Illinois basketball has had some special coaching talent over the history of the program.
Lou Henson is the first name that comes to mind. He helped the Illini to the Final 4 in 1989. Just getting the program to those heights puts you in the conversation of the greatest to ever do it.
Postseason success has a lot to do with the GOAT debate, but I think there is something to be said for regular season success too. While I am not near the GOAT debate with Brad Underwood just yet, I think it is time to take a step back and respect what he has done with the Illini thus far.
On Friday night, Illinois took on a good Purdue squad that was ranked in the top 25. We had an incredible finish to the game that saw the Illini come away with an 88-80 win and the second straight victory over a ranked opponent.
I wasn’t sure how the regular season was going to end for Illinois. We just dropped a game at Madison Square Garden against Duke by a program-worst 43 points. That dropped the Illini to 17-11 overall. With three games left, two against ranked opponents, I had serious doubts Illinois would get to 20 wins this season.
A 20-point win over Iowa was a nice little momentum builder. Illinois went into Michigan and took down the Wolverines on Senior Day with another 20-point victory. This sent our confidence sky high. Purdue then felt the wrath of the patented Illinois run that buried the Boilermakers in the second half.
Winning three games in a row not only got Illinois to 20 wins in the regular season, but it continues to build Underwood’s resume of being one of the greatest coaches in program history.
With the win over Purdue, Illinois now has won at least 20 games in the regular season for six straight years. Let that soak in for a second. Six straight seasons of 20 wins or more in the regular season alone. Illinois only had six 20-win campaigns in the prior 16 seasons before this great run.
Only one other Illinois basketball coach has accomplished this mark, and that was Henson. He had nine straight 20-win seasons from 1982-83 through 1990-91.
Illinois basketball has seen tremendous Big Ten success under Brad Underwood too
The regular season roll Illinois has been on with Underwood at the helm has been fun to watch. While this season alone has been a roller coaster, we still managed to hit that 20-win mark, which is insane to think about.
A big part of this success has come through the Big Ten. Illinois manages to get 20 wins because of the ability to win conference games.
Underwood has won a Big Ten regular season crown in the past six years. He has also won two Big Ten Tournament titles, an achievement no other Illinois coach can say they have accomplished.
Over the past six seasons, Underwood has had 11 or more Big Ten wins in the regular season. That is an achievement that only Henson has accomplished, as he had 11 or more conference wins in nine straight years in the 1980s and 1990s.
This has been an incredible run by the Illinois basketball program. Underwood is hitting marks we haven’t seen in decades or ever for that matter. Let’s appreciate the historical nature of what we are watching.