Sometimes the worst moments reveal the best coaching. When Illinois suffered a historic 110-67 blowout to Duke in February 2025, most observers saw embarrassment. Brad Underwood saw opportunity, choosing positivity over punishment in a decision that would define his team’s season.
The Illini’s 0-of-16 3-point shooting performance against Duke became social media fodder, threatening to crush his players’ confidence. Instead of dwelling on the negatives, Underwood made a conscious choice to flip the narrative, turning statistical failure into psychological fuel for what became a remarkable turnaround.
From Social Media Shame to Positive Reinforcement
In a recent interview, Underwood revealed how social media amplified his team’s struggles after Duke. While he stays off platforms, his players don’t. The game’s shooting statistics spread like wildfire, creating a destructive narrative that threatened to crush confidence completely.
“Yeah, we flipped the script” Underwood explained. “We were 12 of 14 from twos in the first half against Duke. We’re 0 for 16 from three. And instead of dwelling on 0 for 16 and let’s face it, everybody pays attention to social media except me. I’ve been off of it for six years. But your players do.”
The coach recognized the psychological damage social media narratives could inflict on his team’s confidence. Rather than reinforcing negative messaging, he chose a completely different approach to frame the shooting struggles.
“So instead of saying, ‘Hey, we’re 0 for 16’ and that’s what they’re hearing. Boy, that wasn’t any fun. It was miserable. we just took it as, ‘Hey, we got all the misses out of the way. We got a lot of makes coming.'”
Underwood’s approach was deliberately psychological. Rather than focusing on missed threes dominating headlines, he highlighted Illinois’s exceptional interior shooting against college basketball’s best defenses. The Illini shot 12-of-14 on two-pointers, a statistic buried beneath three-point struggles.
“And we just flipped the script and tried to make it a positive because, hey, every single day we have stats in practice and we have the Noah system in our gym. We know that we’re a 40% plus three-point shooting team. So that means we just got a lot of makes coming and and we just flipped the part mentally instead of beating them down or grinding on them even more. It just became positive.”
The strategy worked immediately. Illinois responded with four consecutive victories, averaging 15-point margins while shooting 37.7% from three and maintaining 61% accuracy inside the arc. Their aggressive approach remained intact through positive reinforcement.
This mindset shift reflected Underwood’s coaching evolution. Moving from old-school punishment, he recognized that detail-oriented players needed encouragement over pressure. This approach helped Illinois finish 22-13, securing their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and Round of 32 advancement.
KEEP READING: How Far Will Illinois Men’s Basketball Team Go Next Season?
Underwood’s ability to turn adversity into advantage earned him a six-year contract extension through 2031, worth $4.4 million annually. His “flipped script” philosophy proves that smarter psychology sometimes beats harder coaching when meeting players’ mental needs.
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