Underwood embraces Sweet 16 challenge as Illinois faces Cougars in Houston
Illinois faces Houston in the Sweet 16 with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line, as Brad Underwood’s team takes on one of the nation’s top programs near the Cougars’ home campus. The matchup highlights Underwood’s journey and sets up a high-stakes Illinois vs. Houston showdown in the NCAA Tournament.
HOUSTON – There was a point where Brad Underwood found himself in basketball wasteland, a full-time coach who’s duties included trainer, laundry man and bus driver.
He bounced around those outposts, the Kansas native first taking a job as a head coach in the Jayhawk Conference at Dodge City Community College, where the lonely horizon meant another long road trip to the next game. Underwood was fresh out of school in the late 80’s, having just concluded a graduate assistant gig at Hardin Simmons.
He was a long way from the big time, driving that “16-passengar van from Dodge City to Mesa, Ariz., for a tournament,’’ he recalled. Underwood was closer to Tucumcari than the big time.
In the spotlight that goes with playing his way into the South Region semifinals and the Sweet 16, Underwood wasn’t about to bellyache about the assignment, playing the defending national runner-up a couple miles from its campus.
Is that fair? Who cares.
“I’m going to sound selfish here,’’ he said. “I’m an old JUCO ball coach. If you told me I’d get to coach in the Sweet 16 against Houston, I would crawl to get there.’’
Like his team, Underwood can’t “flinch’’ in the matchup with the Cougars, the team that brought Phi Slamma Jamma decades ago and, lately, a program that’s reached the Sweet 16 in seven consecutive tournaments. Underwood is back in the area where he first made a name for himself at Stephen F. Austin, winning NCAA Tournament games and earning that ticket to a power-conference job and financial victory.
If the Illini and Underwood want to see themselves as a true national title contender, it’s time to win on the big stage. From Underwood’s perspective, it might as well be here.
“If we want to beat them, no matter where we play them, we have to play great,’’ Underwood said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity. It’s an honor to be here. You’re one of 16 still playing, still have the opportunity to try to win the national championship. We’ve got a great opponent. They played in the championship game last year. They have one of the legends of the game in (Kelvin) Sampson as a coach.
“You can’t flinch against these guys. We’re up for the challenge.’’
Illinois meets Houston Thursday with a berth in the regional title game on the line Saturday against the Nebraska-Iowa winner. The Illini are two victories from their first Final Four since Dee, Deron and Luther in 2005. This year, Houston surely looks like the big challenge for the Illini program trying to truly join the ranks of the elite by stomping their way to the national semifinals and a validation of joining the nation’s best.
Houston brings that in-your-face defense, a style that crowds ball screens and post ups with double teams, unafraid to play the advantage/disadvantage game where quick, smart decisions and high-level play can overpower the other jerseys. The Cougars change names but just keep winning with a coach who was almost Illinois’ pick to fill a spot left vacant by Lon Kruger’s jump to the NBA.
“It has to be your system,’’ Sampson said. “I don’t look at other programs for what you do. I had visions of how I wanted to play, then we had to get players to execute the system. Sometimes you have to be stubborn, sometimes coach with one eye open and one ear closed, with a big emphasis on having good players.’’
Like the Illini and nearly every other program in the NIL/portal era, Sampson and the Cougars reloaded this year. The Illini found a star in unheralded freshman guard Keaton Wagler. Meanwhile, Houston landed a big winner in freshman guard Kingston Flemings, a San Antonio native who averages 16.2 points a game. Flemings is fearless in transition, unafraid to launch bombs or finish drives.
On Jan. 24, Wagler and Flemings grabbed the nation’s attention. Wagler scored 46 in an eye-opening win at Purdue, and Flemings tallied 42 in a near miss against Texas Tech.
“He makes the right decisions,’’ Wagler said. “He’s also super quick. He gets to his pull up (jumper), which he, like, never misses. They’ll give him the ball in late-game situations, and he’ll shoot it every time.’’
Wagler is the suburban Kansas City find who took a phone call and received the scholarship offer from Illinois while on his way to a recruiting visit to Southern Illinois. Sorry, Salukis.
“We knew we had a really talented young man,’’ Underwood said.
But there’s always the transition, facing bigger and faster players and dealing with adversity and new environment, but Wagler quickly forced his way into the starting lineup and the role of big shot taker. He leads the Illini by averaging 17.8 points a game.
“We knew we had a talented player who would be a great player at some point,’’ Underwood said. “His maturity and poise exceeded everything we could have thought.’’
OK, some of this seems like a chapter from Orwell’s 1984. Remember that year, when the Illini faced Kentucky in Rupp Arena for a berth in the Final Four before regionals moved off campus sites.
No matter the chance to flip the script, take a big step in the regional semifinal and play into the favorites’ role against another Big Ten team in the regional final Saturday, the Illini first have to handle Houston in Houston, playing in the NBA arena just 2.1 miles from Houston’s campus.
Illinois, like Underwood, wouldn’t play into any questions about the fairness of placing the local team in the bracket here. Perhaps it’s like playing the Illini in Chicago back in the day.
Leave it to a kid from halfway around the world to sum it up on an afternoon when Underwood’s shoes were adorned with flags from his worldwide roster.
“We’re not worried about the crowd,’’ said Zvonimir Ivisic, the slender shot blocker from Croatia. “We’re playing Houston. We don’t play the fans.’’
This is no time to flinch.
