Brad Underwood’s Illinois Illini have had a pretty decent season. They have an overall record of 22-7 and 13-5 in the Big Ten. Coach Underwood has been coaching since 1986 and has been one of the most respected names around in men’s college basketball. He has an impressive 296-135 record in the NCAA as a head coach.
Underwood joined Illinois in 2017 and has won the Big Ten tournament twice in 2021 and 2024. He has a 187-108 record in his nine seasons with the school. This season, Illinois has shown glimpses of a team that can potentially make a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
But during the business end of the college basketball season, Illinois has seen its momentum halted after losing back-to-back games against UCLA and Michigan. And their last loss vs Dusty May’s Michigan certainly disappointed Brad Underwood deeply as he delivered a scathing review of his team’s performance.
“Leadership, nastiness, toughness, uh, you know, defending with Kylin Boswell can go do everything Yaxel can do. It’s my job to get him to do that. We saw, we’ve seen that. We’ve got to get back to post Nebraska mindset on the defensive side. Just getting gritty, nasty. Our basics, we’ve done a little too much on that end in my opinion. I got to get that rectified.
“And it all starts with Kylin and Tommy. Just demand it in practice and this group wants to win. They care a lot and so that’s not going to be a problem. But the lesson was learned and um you know, they took the belt off and beat our behinds with it. And if you like that too much, uh then you should probably go to the rec center and play,” Brad Underwood unloaded about his players.
Illinois lost 84-70 to Michigan, who shot a sizzling 53% from the field. Keaton Wagler led the Illini with 23 points.
Fans react to Brad Underwood unloading on his players
Fans respected Underwood for being so honest and had no problem with his rant.
“Wow that’s real talk,” one fan said.
“BTA, compliments of Michigan!” Another fan commented.
“We aren’t physical enough,” one Illinois fan claimed.
“Losing Rez was HUGE. My Illini are still very good but they are a championship contender with Rez,” another hoped.
“Let’s not forget Illinois had won 9 straight against Michigan,” one fan stated.
“This guy and Painter are real coaches. True accountability,” another appreciated.
Brad Underwood’s team will look to end the regular season strong with its last two games against Oregon and Maryland.
Read more:
Rick Pitino’s Warning to his Players Gets New Meaning as UConn Thrash St. John’s
Tom Izzo Bluntly Slaps Back at Dusty May’s Attack on Michigan State’s “Dangerous” Plays
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