There is some smoke surrounding Illinois basketball head coach Brad Underwood and a major college basketball program. Underwood and the Illini suffered a heartbreaking 84-75 loss to Kentucky in the Round of 32 on Sunday at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
Many Illinois fans were upset with Underwood and freshman Kasparas Jakucionis after the loss.
Following the game, Underwood made it sound like Illinois was the place he wanted to stay.
Illinois basketball is a consistent NCAA Tournament team
“I came here to win a national championship, okay,” Underwood said via video posted on X by Glenn Kinley WCIA 3. “And I think the one thing that will never change with me is that, okay, we’re trying to do that but to do that, you have to have a great program… “We’ve got six straight NCAA tournaments. To me, that’s about building a program of consistency, of culture…
“And are we disappointed? Absolutely, because my goal is nothing more than win a championship. If you hear me ever say anything other than that, then it’s probably time for me to hang it up. But our program is in great shape. We’ve got great leadership, we’ve got great facilities.
“We’ve got the ability to keep getting players. We sell out every night. We got the best fan base out there. And, you know, we came out short today, but we’ll be back. We’re not going anywhere.”
Smoke surrounds Brad Underwood and Texas basketball
There is some smoke around the idea of Underwood going somewhere south. On Sunday, Texas officially fired Rodney Terry after the Longhorns’ loss in the First Four.
Per Kirk Bohls of the Houston Chronicle , Texas considered Underwood, but the idea didn’t go anywhere, at least before Illinois’ game against Kentucky.
“Texas still talking to Sean Miller’s people about the basketball job but nothing’s done,” Bohls posted on X. “(Texas AD) Chris Del Conte leaves ‘no stone unturned,’ source tells Houston Chronicle, even considered St. John’s Rick Pitino, Illinois’ Brad Underwood and Alabama’s Nate Oats, those didn’t go anywhere.”
The situation with Texas is fluid, and the program, which is flush with cash to poach elite coaches, could change Underwood’s mind this week.
Underwood to Texas “makes too much sense”
On Sunday, The Athletic named Underwood as a likely candidate for the Longhorns.
“Brad Underwood, head coach, Illinois: This makes too much sense to ignore,” Brendan Quinn wrote . “ The 61-year-old first made a name for himself at Stephen F. Austin, going 89-14 with three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, before moving from Nacogdoches to Oklahoma State to Illinois. There have long been rumors of mutual interest between Texas and Underwood, or at least curiosities.
“Fact is, here’s what Underwood would do at UT: Get dudes and win games. Taking Illinois to the Elite Eight last year finally cleared Underwood’s résumé of a bad rap for early March losses. Now he’s back in the tournament for the fifth straight year, this time with a No. 6 seed.”
If Texas can’t close the deal with Sean Miller, Underwood’s name could pop up more in the Longhorns’ coaching search this week.
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