Illinois Basketball: Evaluation of Illini head coach Brad Underwood

Postseason Success

I am a fan of a generation growing up where Illinois basketball was consistently elite. A Sweet 16 run was disappointing because we were a national championship contender.

When looking at the current Illini, I shouldn’t think about the distant past because that is unfair to the current squad. With that being said, postseason success is something hard to grade.

Postseason success is anything after the regular season concludes. That means the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA tournament. In the first two seasons under the Underwood regime, Illinois didn’t make the NCAA tournament and had a record of 1-2 in the Big Ten Tournament.

If I was evaluating Underwood after those two campaigns, I would give him a D- grade. But he has redeemed himself the past three seasons. Illinois basketball has gone from a once-great program, to a near laughingstock of the Big Ten, back to a true contender in the college basketball world.

It is unfair to Underwood that Illinois didn’t get to play in the 2020 postseason thanks to COVID. We were entering the Big Ten Tournament as a top-four seed and would have been a top-six seed in the NCAA tournament. Underwood could have earned some bigger positive marks from this campaign.

Underwood followed that great COVID-shortened season with an incredible run the next year. Illinois would run through the Big Ten Tournament and take down Ohio State in the championship game. A Big Ten Tournament crown is something that had been missing for the Illini since 2005.

Illinois would get to the Round of 32 during the 2021 NCAA tournament but would fall short to Loyola Chicago. This was a rough ending for a team that had the potential to get to, at least, the Final 4.

Despite losing a lot of talent, Illinois managed to get the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament this past season. The Illini played one of their worst games of the season in the conference tournament and were eliminated.

As a No. 4 seed, Illinois was able to barely squeak by Chattanooga in the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament. Houston awaited in the second round and pulled away from the Illini late in the game. This was another Round of 32 exit for the Orange and Blue.

For his career, Underwood is 6-5 in the postseason. Illinois has won one Big Ten Tournament title and has advanced to the Round of 32 on two different occasions. The Big Ten Tournament victory was amazing, but if you take that out of the equation, I would say Underwood’s postseason record has been about average.

Overall – B