CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Brad Underwood is back home.
While the 53-year-old was born in McPherson, Kansas, Illinois became home when he served as an assistant coach at Western Illinois from 1992-2003. It was then that he matched wits with Lon Kruger and Bill Self, and he saw what it meant to play against Illinois. He witnessed the support from the community and the students and was hooked.
Still, it was a surprise when his agent let him know Illinois and other schools had reached out about his availability after just one season coaching at Oklahoma State. He had taken the Cowboys to the NCAA tournament, but he had only been in Stillwater for a year and never let himself think about the possibility of coaching at Illinois.