40 years ago, Brad Underwood started his coaching career, taking a graduate assistant role at Hardin-Simmons University. In 2003, he took his first head coaching job at Dodge City, a JUCO in Kansas.
Now, as the head coach at Illinois, Underwood has brought the Fighting Illini to the Final Four.
It has been an undeniably lengthy journey for Underwood to finally accomplish this goal, but after the Illini defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight, you could see that it was all worth it.
"I'm blessed at home. I’ve been fortunate enough to be around great mentors, great coaches. I just bided my time, found a group that’s magical. We’re living the dream."
Illinois to face Duke-UConn winner in Final Four
With the win, the Fighting Illini advanced to their first Final Four in 20 years, two decades since they went on to make it to the National Championship game, where they lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Now, with stars like Keaton Wagler, Kylan Boswell, and seemingly every other athlete on the roster playing their best basketball, Illinois looks as unstoppable as anyone else out there.
"This group's special," Underwood said about his team. "We beat a really good Iowa team who played great. Our resilience was unbelievable. Guys just kept throwing body blows. We just kept hanging in there. Here I am, an old JUCO ball coach from Kansas, going to the Final Four with a group of guys that I love. I couldn't be more proud."
Illinois is 28-8 overall heading to the Final Four, and their 12-point victory over the Hawkeyes was their fourth double-digit win of the NCAA Tournament, beating Penn by 35 points, VCU by 11 points, and Houston by 10 points.
To put it simply, the Illini have been dominant, and that is exactly what they will need to be as they take on their next opponent: the winner of the Duke-UConn game.