Brad Underwood is so easy to root for..
The 62-year-old Illinois coach is in the Final Four, and he made sure that everyone who has ever inspired him along the way knew how appreciative he was of the opportunity.Â
Underwood has been forced to take the tough roads in basketball as a player and a coach, starting as a guard in Division III and moving through junior college to eventually end up at Kansas State. His coaching career took a similar path, starting at Dodge City Community College in Kansas and taking on multiple assistant roles and another junior college stint before getting a D1 opportunity at Stephen F. Austin, where he won 86 percent of his games.
Brad Underwood on making his first Final Four:
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 29, 2026
"I'm gonna get emotional, but I've been doing this 39 years. You dream about this as a kid. I dreamt about doing it at Illinois, when my wife bought Tyler, who was maybe 2, a Brian Cook jersey. It's always been a special place.… pic.twitter.com/2xAOJntPLN
"I say thank you to everybody involved. And I'm going to get emotional, but I've been doing this 39 years, and you dream about this as a kid, and I dreamt about doing it at Illinois," Underwood said. "Back in the day when my wife bought Tyler, who was maybe 2, a Brian Cook jersey, and you knew what a special place this was. And it always has been, and there's been no other thing for me. This is my dream job, and it's very fulfilling to get where we're going."
It was 28 years from the time Underwood went from Dodge City to SFA, and now he's leading the Illini to its first Final Four in 21 years with a chance to win the program's first national title in men's basketball. Even the most cynical of college basketball fans can appreciate Underwood's journey.
And the journey isn't over yet. Illinois still has some winning to do, but Underwood is going to take some time to enjoy this one.
"You can never not celebrate winning. We work our asses off. And these guys work all year long," Underwood said. "We're going to have some sort of celebration after a win. And I want them to not ever feel relieved. We understand that we've got to win one more game twice to get where we want to go. That's all we talk about is winning a National Championship."