sacraig
- The desert
Averaging over the last several years. Not a single point in time. I expect some fluctuation year to year, but for a top 10 salary, I would expect us to be in the top 10 more often than not.
Coaching Carousel (Basketball)
- Status
The old defeatist attitude from the Guenther/Thomas years. C'mon now. There are plenty of high quality coaches out there that would probably be interested in Illinois (McCasland, Beard, Miller, Williams, Hodgson, DeVries, McCollum, ...). I'm not saying it's time to fire Underwood at all. That's insane. But if push comes to shove and he won't make necessary staff changes against Whitman's will (if that happens), Illinois will have plenty of options.
i don't believe the defeatist attitude about riley. sure he could go to the nba or somehow transfer but to act like theres no chance of him returning is insane. the program has the recruiting prowess and money to make a strong case to him
I’m not saying there wouldn’t be plenty of interest. I’m saying the total pool of head coaches that are clearly better is small.
I have a lot of faith in Josh, but I wouldn’t trust myself to pick which of the seven coaches you listed would outperform Underwood over the next five years if they took over for him. And in my mind the odds are the majority of that list would be a push at best.
The ONLY way Brad is not here next year it would because he chose to leave. Josh does NOT have him on the hotseat whatsoever. FACT.
For those who continue to rake Brad Underwood over the coals, 2 things to consider: 1) Learn your Illinois basketball history 2) We have become spoiled by the success BU has brought Illinois over the last 5 years. I grew up watching Lou Henson (and was/am a huge fan of his) and he is considered the gold standard here because he did bring the Illinois program to national relevance, so a few facts surrounding the Lou Henson tenure:
-In 21 years at Illinois, Lou led Illinois to the NCAA tournament 12 times (57% of the time)
-4 Sweet 16’s in 21 years (19% of the time) – Average of 1 Sweet 16 every 5 years
-2 Elite Eights (9% of the time) – Average of 1 Elite 8 every 10 years
-1 Final Four (4% of the time) – Average of 1 Final Four every 21 years
-1 Big Ten Championship (4% of the time) – Average of 1 Final Four every 21 years
-Lou did not make the NCAA tournament until his 5th year at Illinois
This is not a knock-on Lou Henson, I’m thankful for his huge contributions to Illinois basketball; however, Brad Underwood is ahead of where Lou Henson was 8 years into his career at Illinois. You should be thankful that we have reached the point where we lost 97% of our scoring from last year, start 3 first year college players, and have a NET 19 ranking that leaves you whining about losses. That means the Illinois basketball program has reached its highest level in 20 years and we have Brad Underwood and staff to thank for that.
I agree. We wouldn't have a hard time attracting a high profile coach but there really isn't a huge margin for improvement over what BU has done. Basically, to have a better 5 year stint than BU, the next coach would have to raise 4 banners in 5 years.
One second-weekend appearance in all his years here. I think Illinois can find a coach that matches that. Our fan base is so broken.
I want Brad back, but with coaches who can help him. Not surrounded by children.
The Sprouting Divot
Invisible and Bulletproof
- Miracle Mile
Where do you get off acting like you're the only person who has heard of Lou Henson?
I get the feeling the mucky mucks are tiring of the lack of progress.
ginabackes00
CrazedUIFan
Last year's offense had a veteran team running whatever it was or wasn't. This year's team does not have the experience to run based off of mismatches etc. They need a system to help make better decisions and better flow.
He's had 4 chances so far. Your minimum requirement for a coach is to make it to the 2nd weekend every other season?
Editing to add:
His one Elite Eight accounts for 11% of our second weekend appearances of the last 60 years and 20% of our Elite Eights of the last 60 years.
Last edited:
I agree with that, some assistants need to be replaced and I'm confident Brad will make those adjustments
You're bad at math. He's been here seven full seasons and likely won't make the Sweet 16 in year 8. Take away the pandemic season, and that'll be one second weekend out of seven chances.
Again, I don't want him fired, but let's not act like Illinois can't find an equal or better coach.
Again, I don't want him fired, but let's not act like Illinois can't find an equal or better coach.
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
Correct. And how many times have we made it that far in the past 40 years? If Brad leaves, whether he jumps or is pushed, we will right back to aiming for mediocrity and will far short of it. He is the winningest coach in the B1G over the last five years, and it is hubris to think we'll be able to improve on what Brad has been able to accomplish the last five years.
Just because I was curious, here are the programs over the last four years that have made it the second weekend multiple times without missing the tournament. I'd love to be on this list and certainly we can be and have been. But the point is some people are calling for our coach to be fired because he hasn't done something that only 7 coaches have. And we (some of us anyway) assume that a shiny new coach is going to waltz right in and do it no sweat.
Anyway, here's the list:
UConn
Purdue
Gonzaga
Creighton
Houston
Alabama
SDSU
And if you want to narrow it to teams who have multiple second weekends and no missed tourneys in the last five years (according to KenPom's 2020 projected seeds) the list looks like this:
Gonzaga
Creighton
Houston
SDSU
I think that is incorrect. Underwood is a very, very good coach. Illinois is also a very desirable job.
And there is every chance that, should Underwood leave, the next coach will not be as successful as Underwood has been. That would be painful.
But mediocrity? No.F'n.Way.
We are fortunate to have an AD who won't let that happen (unlike Whitman's predecessor, a person who had no business being at the helm of Illini sports).
Until 1980 a conference could only have 2 teams in the tournament. It expanded to 24 at large (48 total) then and 64 total in 1985 (? - too lazy to double check). Additionally, Lou lost some chances (and momentum) due to the totally valid and not bs postseason ban at the end of his tenure.
Just pointing out it's a little disingenuous to make comparisons based on tournament achievements
Anything is better than what they're getting from Marty Simmons.
Thank you for the clear, calm addition to the discussion.
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
We’re in agreement here. But the data shows pretty clear (see Robert’s multiple analyses over the years) that a coaching changes causes an almost immediate 4-5 year reset in team performance. We CANNOT go back to that.
You can dislike the guy but this is an unfair way to frame his time here.
- Status