Speaking ahead of the inaugural University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame Gala, Illini basketball coach Brad Underwood called on his team to have “that swagger.” Not just any swagger, but one befitting of the program’s all time ranking (#11) by the AP this spring.
Asked if history can be used as a recruiting tool, even with players who may be too young to remember the past glory days, Underwood responded:
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“Absolutely, it’s the one thing you cannot re-create is tradition and history and I go back to the Associated Press article that came out around the Final Four- we’re the 11th best program in the history of college basketball and nobody else can say that, and we have to have that swagger.”
The event, honoring the first ever Illini Athletics Hall of Fame class, was held in Stanley Hall at the Field Museum of Natural History. The inaugural class had a lot of big names, including: Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Nick Anderson, Lou Boudreau, Dick Butkus, Red Grange, George Halas, Steve Stricker and many more.
The first three on that list are obviously legends in Illini basketball history, and seven of the 28 members in the inaugural class hail from men’s basketball. Thus, it’s a program with a very storied tradition. Underwood begins his first year at the helm, taking over for the dismissed John Groce, looking to re-create some of that winning tradition that is major part of Illinois’ past.
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“We have to have that air and we have to act like that and we’re not far away and we make that a big part of our recruiting,” Underwood said at the media availability.
The rookie head coach, brought up from Oklahoma State also said that adding a player or two before the upcoming season starts isn’t out of the question, but it likely won’t be a freshman. He also said that he’s okay with the idea of rolling over scholarships to future rosters. The current roster is lacking bodies at the forward positions, so Underwood will likely have to play four guards at a time for very long stretches.
Here’s a link to the latest Illinois depth chart.
Underwood isn’t just giving coachspeak platitudes when he says Illini basketball isn’t that far off. Just a win or two last season would have gotten them into the NCAA Tournament, and it was only four years ago that Illinois was in striking distance of reaching the Sweet Sixteen.
However, the program is certainly a far cry from where they were a decade ago when Illini basketball led the nation in total wins from 2002-2006. The hope in Champaign-Urbana is that Underwood can bring the turnaround artistry he conveyed at Oklahoma State and Stephen F. Austin to the program that he has described as his dream job.
You can listen to audio of the full media session with Illini basketball coach Brad Underwood below:
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/brad-underwood
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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