In his final press conference of the season, Illini basketball coach Brad Underwood fielded a reporter’s question about his national title ambitions. Underwood made it clear, once again what he’s said multiple times previously- that competing for nattys are the ultimate goal in Champaign.
In order to compete for national championships, a program needs stability and identity. Underwood, with a new long-term contract extension (keeping Underwood at Illinois until 2031, potentially) announced earlier this week, gives the program stability. As for identity, well, Illini basketball has now become the Illini basketbalkans.
If you’ve clicked here, then you most likely have followed this off-season’s transfer portal developments for Illinois, in which Underwood and his staff have remade the Illini basketball roster. And it now has a distinctively more Balkan states flair. But the idea of identity goes deeper than that- at least in this case.
Underwood has shown an ability to change with the times, and adjust on the fly, call an audible when needed, in the this brave new college basketball world. The Morez Johnson situation, and all that developed out of that, is the most classic example of how there really isn’t much loyalty to a program, for players these days. .
They are just as free to go explore all their options, every season, as coaches are. As the NBA Draft Combine just concluded, you can take a look at draft prospect Jaxson Robinson. As written in RG.org, Robinson went to “four different schools (three of which are in the SEC) in five years, an idea that would have been unheard of 10, or maybe even five years ago. But in today’s brave new college basketball world, with a deregulated, laissez-faire transfer portal, it’s actually becoming somewhat common.”
This is where we are now, and if you’re a college hoops coach, you’ve got to figure it. You’re getting paid big bucks to do so.
Underwood’s new annual salary begins at $4.4 million. Additionally, Underwood has potential retention incentives that kick in on July 1 each year, commencing with $1.15 million in 2026, and then growing each year thereafter. Therefore, he is set to see his earnings skyrocket, via incentive-based add-ons, provided he succeeds on the court, of course.
It has been a mixed bag in that department. Over the last six years of the Underwood era, the Illini are tied for the most wins in league play (81) while owning the most league road wins (34).
They are also tied for the most regular season and conference tournament wins combined (88).
The 81 victories in conference play mark the winningest six-year stretch in program history, with the two all-time winningest league seasons (16 in 2021, 15 in 2022) and three of the top five (14 in 2024), So Illini basketball has been pretty formidable in league play, during the Brad Underwood era.
They are the only program with a winning Big Ten record in each of the last six years.
However, the NCAA Tournament has been a much different experience for Underwood and Illini basketball over those half-dozen years. The Elite Eight appearance, which included a win over #2 seed Iowa State, in 2024 was special.
However, outside of that sweet sixteen round victory over Iowa St., Underwood has zero March Madness Ws over single digit seeds. He’s only made it to the second weekend of the tournament, only that one time.
Potentially, Underwood could be leading the Illini basketball program until 2035, if all the performance-based benchmarks are met.
That won’t happen unless Underwood and his staff can better solve the NCAA Tournament. In terms of how to get there, look no further than Robinson’s final college hoops program, Kentucky.
They set a new standard for how some programs would go about roster building, over a decade ago.
When John Calipari was in charge in Lexington, there was massive roster churn every season. That was unheard of at the time, but now a lot of programs, including Illinois obviously, are doing it.
Current Illini assistant Orlando Antigua was Coach Cal’s right hand-man, at that time, so he knows a few things about how to construct/maintain a roster in this fashion. This is the way forward.
Note: since we posted that A.I. generated image (which has gone viral) of Underwood in the Balkans, and made to look like a denizen of the region…here is the Bret Bielema version that has been making the internet rounds.
Obviously, Bielema is in Florida here, because that’s his primary recruiting ground. It is a funny coincidence that both Illini revenue-generating sport head coaches recruit primarily from a place where the male fashion motif is track suits.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter
