Aug. 29—CHAMPAIGN — Brad Underwood's address to the crowd at Atkins Golf Club ahead of the 25th annual Illini Rebounders/Lou Henson Golf Outing included a mea culpa.
The Illinois men's basketball coach brought up the sting of this past April's Final Four loss to Connecticut and his insistence the Illini would get back to that stage during his 31/2 minute speech. He also thanked the fans in attendance for their consistent support of the program he's about to enter his 10th season leading.
Then Underwood discussed the recently released nonconference schedule for the 2026-27 season. A 12-game slate featuring multiple games against power-conference teams, but one that notably didn't have any of those teams coming to Champaign to play at State Farm Center.
"I will apologize," Underwood said. "I'll take the heat. It was very hard. Because we're expected to be OK, ****** ody wanted to come to Champaign and play us in a home-and-home."
Illinois, of course, is expected to be more than just "OK" this coming season. Five returning rotation players from a Final Four team with a high-level transfer addition and a six-man freshman class led by five-star guard Quentin Coleman has the Illini in the conversation among the best teams in the country.
#champaign #illini #four
The Illinois men's basketball coach brought up the sting of this past April's Final Four loss to Connecticut and his insistence the Illini would get back to that stage during his 31/2 minute speech. He also thanked the fans in attendance for their consistent support of the program he's about to enter his 10th season leading.
Then Underwood discussed the recently released nonconference schedule for the 2026-27 season. A 12-game slate featuring multiple games against power-conference teams, but one that notably didn't have any of those teams coming to Champaign to play at State Farm Center.
"I will apologize," Underwood said. "I'll take the heat. It was very hard. Because we're expected to be OK, ****** ody wanted to come to Champaign and play us in a home-and-home."
Illinois, of course, is expected to be more than just "OK" this coming season. Five returning rotation players from a Final Four team with a high-level transfer addition and a six-man freshman class led by five-star guard Quentin Coleman has the Illini in the conversation among the best teams in the country.
#champaign #illini #four
5 days ago
