Illinois Basketball: Illini extending Brad Underwood means more than money

On Wednesday morning, the Illinois basketball program secured their head coach for years to come.

The Illini athletic department put out a press release revealing that head coach Brad Underwood had received a contract extension. This extension runs through the 2027-28 season.

In the press release, Underwood talks about many of the reasons why he was thankful he received an extension, but there was one line that stuck out to me.

"“…everything is in place for us to compete for championships.”"

So far, Underwood has shown that Illinois can win championships. We have won a Big Ten regular season championship and a Big Ten Tournament championship. I look forward to many more of those championships, and maybe even one of those national types of championships as well.

Illinois basketball extending Brad Underwood was important for the program.

Most people are going to see the contract and just look at the dollars involved. Yes, it is important for Underwood to make money so we can retain him. He gets an annual increase in base pay, an increase in retention bonus, and his buyout goes up if he wants to leave Champaign.

But I think this contract extension goes beyond the money. This is a sign of strong stability in what is an extremely volatile college basketball market.

It seems that players and coaches are changing by the day. The fact Illinois can point to the head coach and say, “see that guy, he’s our guy, he has always been our guy, and he will always be our guy” is extremely important. Recruits and players see that and will want to gravitate towards that.

Illinois has one of the best recruiting classes in the nation coming in from the class of 2022. We have the top player from North Carolina, Ohio, and Illinois all signed. Let’s not forget, there is a chance a 5-star point guard pledges to the Illini as well. Having Underwood sign that extension shows that when these players come to play for Illinois, they don’t have to worry about a potential coaching change in the near future.

This was a great move by athletic director Josh Whitman and the entire Illinois administration. Underwood brings stability to the Illinois basketball program. I look forward to the many championships to come.