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Why Illinois' Brad Underwood Has Earned His Coach of the Year Candidacy

Underwood was named to the Naismith Coach of the Year watch list on Friday – an honor he more than deserves
Pranav Hegde|
Jan 8, 2026; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood greets the crowd before he first half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
Jan 8, 2026; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood greets the crowd before he first half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

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Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois fans, certain college basketball experts – and, yes, Illinois on SI, too – have spent chunks of the season treating Brad Underwood like the remote control when the TV stops working. The lineup didn’t click? What's wrong with this thing? A long offensive dry spell? How come it isn't working? A dumb turnover or missed defensive communication? Are we really gonna have to go get a new one?!

And, look, some of the criticism has been fair. In-game coaching is always the easiest place to finger-point when you’re mad, and this fan base has never met a second-half scoring drought it couldn’t complain about in real time.

But if we’re going to be consistent, this is also the part where we have to give credit where it is so clearly due: Brad Underwood is a great coach. And his inclusion on the 2026 Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year watch list is at least a good excuse to lay out that case.

So here’s the argument, itemized, like a receipt from the most chaotic Costco run imaginable:

1) Illinois is running an historically elite offense

Illinois isn’t just good offensively. It’s in best-ever territory. The Illini have been setting the pace nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, continuing to nudge the all-time KenPom record higher as the season carries on.

That doesn’t happen because you drew up one nice play in November. That’s structure. That’s spacing. That’s role definition. That’s a team that knows what shots it wants and how to manufacture them against scouting. That starts with Underwood.

2) Trading speed for surgical efficiency

Underwood teams have built a real identity the last couple of years: play fast, play downhill, turn every game into a track meet the opponent didn’t agree to enter. Illinois has played at one of the fastest paces in the country in recent years, sprinting through possessions and betting that constant pressure would eventually crack opponents.

That’s why this season’s shift has been so striking. Illinois is 292nd in the nation in tempo, according to KenPom. That’s not “We’re picking our spots” slow. That’s “We brought snacks to the half-court set” slow. And the wild part is, the offense hasn’t lost its edge at all. If anything, the slower pace has made Illinois feel even more inevitable: fewer rushed shots, more intentional possessions and a steady sense that the Illini are perfectly comfortable taking their time … because they know the math is still going to work out in their favor.

3) The emergence of Keaton Wagler

Early in the year, Illinois used Wagler more off the ball, and the first month looked like a pretty normal freshman acclimation period – flashes, a few “Oh, wow” moments and a lot of learning on the fly. The upside was obvious, but it still felt like he might be a next-year problem in terms of truly taking over.

Then came the pivot. After that Black Friday loss to UConn, the staff put the ball in Wagler’s hands and installed him as the primary point guard, and everything changed. Instead of trying to fit into the offense, the offense started orbiting him – his pace, his reads, his ability to get downhill and create late-clock solutions.

Since that move, Illinois has taken off, and Wagler has gone from promising freshman to sure-fire NBA Draft lottery pick. That’s the kind of adjustment coaches say they’ll make. Underwood actually made it – and it changed the trajectory of the Illini's season.

4) Underwood kept the right glue guys in the building

In modern college basketball, continuity is a flex – and it should also be recognized as a coaching skill. That’s why Underwood deserves real credit for holding on to Jake Davis and Ben Humrichous, especially in an era when players can bolt the second they want a bigger role somewhere else.

And this year, they haven’t just been nice returning pieces. They’ve been huge.

Humrichous has been excellent on defense, consistently in the right spots, finishing possessions and making life miserable for opponents without needing to rack up counting stats to prove it. On offense, he has hit timely shots – the kind that don’t always look flashy, but somehow always show up when Illinois needs a steadying bucket.

Davis has been just as important, especially as Illinois has dealt with injuries. He didn’t just survive in an expanded role – he has played well enough that it’s hard to see him going back to a limited one. At this point, he may have even earned a starting spot the rest of the season.

That’s not luck. That’s Underwood retaining the right guys – and putting them in positions to grow and do their best work.

5) Underwood is still tinkering defensively (because he has to)

Is Illinois an all-defense masterpiece? No. But the scheme hasn’t been static either, and that willingness to tweak is partly why the Illini have been able to survive nights when the defense isn’t at its best.

For most of the season, Illinois has leaned into a style that’s pretty clear in its priorities: Don’t foul, don’t gamble too much and live with fewer takeaways if it means you’re not giving away free points at the line. Underwood has even talked about adjusting the approach to give up more threes if it means taking away easy twos – basically trading some play-to-play variance for more consistent rim protection and better overall results.

And then, after the Illini dropped two straight, you saw the next adjustment: Underwood has shown a willingness to mess with rhythm by sprinkling in more halfcourt traps and pressure looks, trying to manufacture turnovers instead of hoping opponents just miss. It hasn’t been a magical fix, but it has been an effective change-up. Underwood is still searching, still tinkering, still trying to get the right pieces to click on that end – even this deep into the season.

The bottom line

Here’s the truth: You don’t accidentally stumble into a season like this. Rotations can be nitpicked, dead-ball sets can be quibbled with, and that one two-minute stretch where nobody found the corner shooter can be replayed ad infinitum. But the big picture speaks far louder volumes than any complaints.

Underwood has Illinois operating at an historically elite offensive level, he has reshaped the team’s identity on the fly, and he has gotten real value out of the right guys in the right roles. If the Illini close strong, a coach of the year conversation that includes Underwood shouldn’t feel like a novelty – it should be real.

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Pranav Hegde
PRANAV HEGDE

Primarily covers Illinois football, basketball and golf, with an emphasis on news, analysis and features. Hegde, an electrical engineering student at Illinois with an affinity for sports writing, has been writing for On SI since April 2025. He can be followed and reached on Instagram @pranavhegde__.

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