Illinois Basketball: First two years of recruiting is key to success

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KANSAS CITY, MO – MARCH 09: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Oklahoma State Cowboys reacts from the bench during the quarterfinal game of the Big 12 Basketball Tournament against the Iowa State Cyclones at the Sprint Center on March 9, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Brad Underwood hasn’t even coached a game for the Illinois basketball team, and fans are already starting to question his ability to recruit. What are we doing here folks?

In the short time he has been the head coach – seven months next Tuesday – Underwood has done some impressive things when it comes to recruiting. He managed to establish a class of 2017 that will be the base for the future success of the program.

I truly believe Underwood will continue having success recruiting despite the previous coaching regime’s not having an easy time and possibly messing up the Chicago pipeline. The short amount of time he has had with the Illini and the players he has pulled in is nothing but amazing right now.

Underwood not only managed to keep a couple of four-star recruits around, but he also landed an Illinois Mr. Basketball for 2017 and he might be landing another Illinois Mr. Basketball if the chips fall right. That would be two Illinois Mr. Basketball award winners on the same roster in Champaign.

You really can’t get too much better than that but we need to take a look at the previous coaching regime’s first two recruiting classes when they took the job at Illinois. Here are how some of the other coaches fared for their first two recruiting classes.

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