Illini Basketball 2025-2026

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#201      
the juiceman cometh
bigcityillini said:
He is 14th - source: https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/mens-basketball/coach
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That's from March 2025. Do you think some guys may have gotten pay raises in the offseason?

bigcityillini said:
Well yes, actually I'd say over his tenure, particularly over the stretch beginning with the COVID year, he has been one of the 14 best coaches in college basketball. Can you name 14 guys who have been better? - self, hurley, Sampson, may, Izzo, painter, beard, Cronin, oats, Llyod, Pitino, golden, few, drew, scheyer, cal, barnes, McDermott, Kelsy. Thats 19. If you wanna argue a few here or there i wont stop you. But every list has some combo of those guys above brad. (https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...y-holds-off-houstons-kelvin-sampson-for-no-1/)
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Yes, some of these guys have been very successful. Guys like Hurley, Sampson, Painter, Oats, Izzo - I'll give you that. They also aren't going to coach at Illinois.

Pitino hasn't made a second weekend since his Louisville days, and hasn't made a second weekend that hasn't been vacated since 2009.

Pat Kelsey got bumped in the first round last year and has never made a second weekend.

McDermott has made more second weekends, but has zero conference titles since the Covid season. Brad has 3.

Since his Championship (props to that) Drew has gone four straight seasons without making a single second weekend and finished 7th in the Big 12 last season.

Cronin missed the tournament entirely two seasons ago, going 16-17, and made it exactly as far as we did in the Tournament last season.

Cal in the time frame we are talking has the same number of 2nd weekends, with one S16 appearance to Brad's one E8 appearance, and fewer conference titles, and more losing seasons (1-0).

Like Cal, in that time frame Beard has the same number of 2nd weekends, with one S16 appearance to Brad's one E8 appearance, and no conference titles.
bigcityillini said:
High Revenue & Valuation: In 2025, Illinois was listed with a $33.2M revenue and a $232M enterprise value, marking it as one of the most valuable basketball programs in the country. How would we not have money? Also you can look up any NIL eval website and it shows Illinois Hoops in the top 20.

And is one elite 8 good enough for you? It can be. Just not for a lot of us
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The team does not pay NIL out of its revenue. The team does not pay NIL at all. NIL eval websites are 100% guesswork.

This article from April listed 24 programs as having rosters of $8 million or more. Illinois is not listed in this article. https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...g-hits-unthinkable-levels-of-financial-chaos/

IlliniFan42 said:
I think that article misinterpreted his pay due to how his contract is structured. He got an extension to his contract, the first year of that contract he earned $4.4M. The article interprets that first year statement as being the first year since he signed the extension, meaning the article thinks he got a pay cut to take an extension.

This statement makes even less sense when Brad was already under contract for several more years and the extension is adding years later down the line, so it wouldn't have any impact on his salary this year.
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No actually what happened, if you click on his name in the USA Today list you can see that part of his salary for 2025 is a $500k retention bonus he got. His salary before his extension was $4.3 million - add $500k retention bonus to that and you get $4.8 million. His base salary after the extension, every year of his contract, is $4.4 million, and so that's why the more recent November 2025 article revises it down.
 
#202      
Fly Illini Fly!
Curbelo Fanboy said:
That Groce or Weber argument just drives me absolutely batsh!! crazy. Some of those people were using similar logic to want to keep Bruce around when his time had clearly run it's course. Illinois has the resources to be a consistent player on the national scene with demonstrable March success. One sweet 16 in 9 years isn't getting that job done IMO. Even if we pass his first 3 years cause he inherited a dumpster fire, 1 sweet 16 in 5 years is marginally passable.

After what we saw Saturday does not most everyone figure if a Hoiberg had the Illini roster he would outperform what Brad is doing/has done in prior years. I have no doubt.
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Hungry Chinese Food GIF by GrindFace TV
 
#203      
EmeraldCityIllini
bigcityillini said:
We need to start evaluating this from a financial perspective. Underwood is currently the 14th highest-paid coach, and his NIL budget ranks in the top 15 nationally. Are we seeing a return that matches those resources? Are consistent 4–6 seeds and early tournament exits justifiable given the investment?

For those saying, “Do you want Groce or Weber back?”—are we really that afraid of a coaching search? We have top-tier financial resources and an NIL budget that could attract most guys look for a rasie. Look at recent hires: Louisville brought in Pat Kelsey from College of Charleston, Dusty May came from FAU, and Dan Hurley was at Rhode Island before winning big. There are excellent coaches out there, and we have the means to entice them. This isn’t about firing Brad today—though personally, I believe we’ve hit our ceiling with him. It’s about recognizing that the status quo is no longer acceptable. With the level of resources we have, settling for mid-level seeds and early exits year after year simply isn’t good enough.
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This is all assuming Ofcourse the free market for college basketball coaches worked in a way where you can simply transfer a coaching staff’s salary to any coaching staff of your choosing and they’ll pack their bags and be on campus tomorrow.

It seems we’ve moved on from Sean Miller and have graduated to Fred Hoiberg as a slam dunk better choice.

Who ya got in mind?
 
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#204      
NarrowJ
The constant hammering of this 1 in 9 thing keeps us from having a fair conversation... and it wasn't a S16, it was an E8, and it was recent (should be noted imo)

One year did not have a tournament at all
This year's tournament hasn't even happened yet

It's difficult to take some of these arguments seriously given the inability to set the goalposts at the correct distance
 
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#205      
bigcityillini
the juiceman cometh said:
That's from March 2025. Do you think some guys may have gotten pay raises in the offseason?



Yes, some of these guys have been very successful. Guys like Hurley, Sampson, Painter, Oats, Izzo - I'll give you that. They also aren't going to coach at Illinois.

Pitino hasn't made a second weekend since his Louisville days, and hasn't made a second weekend that hasn't been vacated since 2009.

Pat Kelsey got bumped in the first round last year and has never made a second weekend.

McDermott has made more second weekends, but has zero conference titles since the Covid season. Brad has 3.

Since his Championship (props to that) Drew has gone four straight seasons without making a single second weekend and finished 7th in the Big 12 last season.

Cronin missed the tournament entirely two seasons ago, going 16-17, and made it exactly as far as we did in the Tournament last season.

Cal in the time frame we are talking has the same number of 2nd weekends, with one S16 appearance to Brad's one E8 appearance, and fewer conference titles, and more losing seasons (1-0).

Like Cal, in that time frame Beard has the same number of 2nd weekends, with one S16 appearance to Brad's one E8 appearance, and no conference titles.


The team does not pay NIL out of its revenue. The team does not pay NIL at all. NIL eval websites are 100% guesswork.

This article from April listed 24 programs as having rosters of $8 million or more. Illinois is not listed in this article. https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...g-hits-unthinkable-levels-of-financial-chaos/



No actually what happened, if you click on his name in the USA Today list you can see that part of his salary for 2025 is a $500k retention bonus he got. His salary before his extension was $4.3 million - add $500k retention bonus to that and you get $4.8 million. His base salary after the extension, every year of his contract, is $4.4 million, and so that's why the more recent November 2025 article revises it down.
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Like i said you can nitpick guys here or there. But the short answer is no... Brad is not performing better than similarly paid coaches. Whenever BU coaches against elite coaches/rosters, he gets shellshocked. Why when we play the big boys... Uconn, Duke, etc. We look like we don't even look like we belong on the same court, yet out coach lives in the same neighborhood.
 
#206      
bigcityillini
NarrowJ said:
The constant hammering of this 1 in 9 thing keeps us from having a fair conversation

One year did not have a tournament at all
This year's tournament hasn't even happened yet

It's difficult to take some of these arguments seriously given the inability to set the goalposts at the correct distance
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is 1 in 7 or 1 in 9 really a difference? It all rings the same message at the end of the day
 
#207      
EmeraldCityIllini
NarrowJ said:
The constant hammering of this 1 in 9 thing keeps us from having a fair conversation

One year did not have a tournament at all
This year's tournament hasn't even happened yet

It's difficult to take some of these arguments seriously given the inability to set the goalposts at the correct distance
Click to expand...

I can understand being frustrated that some very good underwood teams (ironically, we now don’t care about regular season results) don’t have another second weekend to show for it. I understand being annoyed losing to Nebraska when it felt like we got on a roll.

But i legitimately do not understand the benefit to flat out lie about the coach of our team. I have no idea what benefit that serves anyone.
 
#208      
Fly Illini Fly!
bigcityillini said:
We need to start evaluating this from a financial perspective. Underwood is currently the 14th highest-paid coach, and his NIL budget ranks in the top 15 nationally. Are we seeing a return that matches those resources? Are consistent 4–6 seeds and early tournament exits justifiable given the investment?

For those saying, “Do you want Groce or Weber back?”—are we really that afraid of a coaching search? We have top-tier financial resources and an NIL budget that could attract most guys look for a rasie. Look at recent hires: Louisville brought in Pat Kelsey from College of Charleston, Dusty May came from FAU, and Dan Hurley was at Rhode Island before winning big. There are excellent coaches out there, and we have the means to entice them. This isn’t about firing Brad today—though personally, I believe we’ve hit our ceiling with him. It’s about recognizing that the status quo is no longer acceptable. With the level of resources we have, settling for mid-level seeds and early exits year after year simply isn’t good enough.
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I genuinely figured when Brad's extension was announced this summer this argument would be dead for good. But not to be!
 
#209      
bigcityillini
EmeraldCityIllini said:
This is all assuming Ofcourse the free market for college basketball coaches worked in a way where you can simply transfer a coaching staff’s salary to any coaching staff of your choosing and they’ll pack their bags and be on campus tomorrow.

It seems we’ve moved on from Sean Miller and have graduated to Fred Hoiberg as a slam dunk better choice.

Who ya got in mind?
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Id take a look at a few of these guys Ben McCollum, Otzelberger, Pat Kelsey.

Wish List would Will Wade, Hoeiberg, McCasland
 
#210      
bavanga3
the juiceman cometh said:
That's from March 2025. Do you think some guys may have gotten pay raises in the offseason?



Yes, some of these guys have been very successful. Guys like Hurley, Sampson, Painter, Oats, Izzo - I'll give you that. They also aren't going to coach at Illinois.

Pitino hasn't made a second weekend since his Louisville days, and hasn't made a second weekend that hasn't been vacated since 2009.

Pat Kelsey got bumped in the first round last year and has never made a second weekend.

McDermott has made more second weekends, but has zero conference titles since the Covid season. Brad has 3.

Since his Championship (props to that) Drew has gone four straight seasons without making a single second weekend and finished 7th in the Big 12 last season.

Cronin missed the tournament entirely two seasons ago, going 16-17, and made it exactly as far as we did in the Tournament last season.

Cal in the time frame we are talking has the same number of 2nd weekends, with one S16 appearance to Brad's one E8 appearance, and fewer conference titles, and more losing seasons (1-0).

Like Cal, in that time frame Beard has the same number of 2nd weekends, with one S16 appearance to Brad's one E8 appearance, and no conference titles.


The team does not pay NIL out of its revenue. The team does not pay NIL at all. NIL eval websites are 100% guesswork.

This article from April listed 24 programs as having rosters of $8 million or more. Illinois is not listed in this article. https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...g-hits-unthinkable-levels-of-financial-chaos/



No actually what happened, if you click on his name in the USA Today list you can see that part of his salary for 2025 is a $500k retention bonus he got. His salary before his extension was $4.3 million - add $500k retention bonus to that and you get $4.8 million. His base salary after the extension, every year of his contract, is $4.4 million, and so that's why the more recent November 2025 article revises it down.
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How are you gonna question the age of this guy's source because its from March, claiming the numbers change so this source isnt reliable, but then cite something from April 17th to give an idea on our NIL budget when our biggest piece wasn't even committed yet? Little more consistency please. Bottom line is Brad has all the resources he needs, its time for him to show he can get enough out of his players to be a factor in March. Just like all those other coaches have proven even some with far less support.
 
#211      
NarrowJ
Fly Illini Fly! said:
I genuinely figured when Brad's extension was announced this summer this argument would be dead for good. But not to be!
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He uses Pat Kelsey as an example.. a guy who has accomplished exactly what at Louisville thus far? They got blasted by Creighton in the first round last year

"Dan Hurley was at Rhode Island before winning big" - Well blah blah blah coaches usually come from smaller schools, not everyone gets their first jobs at a blue blood

But anyway, to your point, it is indeed pretty insane that this is even a conversation right now... Brad will be here until he decides not to be
 
#212      
bigcityillini
Fly Illini Fly! said:
I genuinely figured when Brad's extension was announced this summer this argument would be dead for good. But not to be!
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I never got that mindset tbh. He's had 1 team that has outperformed their preseason expectations. 1 in 9 years. I get that people are excited and what to believe we have our Izzo or self. But nothing I've seen the past few years would lead me to believe that. I think we have a good coach, who is a terrible gameday coach, but an elite recruiter. Is that really worth a top 15 salary in the sport? idk...

Michigan is top 5 in year 2 of their new coach. It doesn't take long to turn things around when done right.
 
#213      
bigcityillini
NarrowJ said:
He uses Pat Kelsey as an example.. a guy who has accomplished exactly what at Louisville thus far? They got blasted by Creighton in the first round last year

"Dan Hurley was at Rhode Island before winning big" - Well blah blah blah coaches usually come from smaller schools, not everyone gets their first jobs at a blue blood

But anyway, to your point, it is indeed pretty insane that this is even a conversation right now... Brad will be here until he decides not to be
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I mean the guy is accomplished. Hes 10+ years younger than brad and has already accomplished wayyyy more. Lets see if an elite 8 is all he has by the time hes 60. Then brad and him can be compared.

Championships
Awards
4x Big South regular season (2016, 2017, 2020, 2021)
3x Big South tournament (2017, 2020, 2021)
2x CAA regular season (2023, 2024)
2x CAA tournament (2023, 2024)
Big South Coach of the Year (2021)
CAA Coach of the Year (2024)
ACC Coach of the Year (2025)
 
#214      
rdk573
NarrowJ said:
He uses Pat Kelsey as an example.. a guy who has accomplished exactly what at Louisville thus far? They got blasted by Creighton in the first round last year

"Dan Hurley was at Rhode Island before winning big" - Well blah blah blah coaches usually come from smaller schools, not everyone gets their first jobs at a blue blood

But anyway, to your point, it is indeed pretty insane that this is even a conversation right now... Brad will be here until he decides not to be
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I agree. Unless the program falls into hard times (i.e. not making the big tournament), he's our coach for life. And with the NIL resources available, I don't see that ever happening. Regardless of how far we get in the tournament, He's our coach for life. And based on prior results, post 2005 until Brad got here, I can live in with that
 
#215      
IlliniFan42
the juiceman cometh said:
That's from March 2025. Do you think some guys may have gotten pay raises in the offseason?



Yes, some of these guys have been very successful. Guys like Hurley, Sampson, Painter, Oats, Izzo - I'll give you that. They also aren't going to coach at Illinois.

Pitino hasn't made a second weekend since his Louisville days, and hasn't made a second weekend that hasn't been vacated since 2009.

Pat Kelsey got bumped in the first round last year and has never made a second weekend.

McDermott has made more second weekends, but has zero conference titles since the Covid season. Brad has 3.

Since his Championship (props to that) Drew has gone four straight seasons without making a single second weekend and finished 7th in the Big 12 last season.

Cronin missed the tournament entirely two seasons ago, going 16-17, and made it exactly as far as we did in the Tournament last season.

Cal in the time frame we are talking has the same number of 2nd weekends, with one S16 appearance to Brad's one E8 appearance, and fewer conference titles, and more losing seasons (1-0).

Like Cal, in that time frame Beard has the same number of 2nd weekends, with one S16 appearance to Brad's one E8 appearance, and no conference titles.


The team does not pay NIL out of its revenue. The team does not pay NIL at all. NIL eval websites are 100% guesswork.

This article from April listed 24 programs as having rosters of $8 million or more. Illinois is not listed in this article. https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...g-hits-unthinkable-levels-of-financial-chaos/



No actually what happened, if you click on his name in the USA Today list you can see that part of his salary for 2025 is a $500k retention bonus he got. His salary before his extension was $4.3 million - add $500k retention bonus to that and you get $4.8 million. His base salary after the extension, every year of his contract, is $4.4 million, and so that's why the more recent November 2025 article revises it down.
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But his retention bonus is an increasing annual number. I feel like including just salary is misleading because coaches should be ranked on total compensation. When people say "he's paid like a top X coach" that's all compensation.
 
#217      
IlliniFan42
I think people need to wrap their heads around what the actual bar is for Underwood. Making the NCAA Tournament guarantees him a one-year contract extension. That's it.
 
#219      
Curbelo Fanboy
NarrowJ said:
The constant hammering of this 1 in 9 thing keeps us from having a fair conversation... and it wasn't a S16, it was an E8, and it was recent (should be noted imo)

One year did not have a tournament at all
This year's tournament hasn't even happened yet

It's difficult to take some of these arguments seriously given the inability to set the goalposts at the correct distance
Click to expand...
1 in 9 is factual. I did also add in my post that I'd legit wipe out the first 3 years cause he did inherit a garbage program. And even eliminating the covid year he is at 1 sweet 16 in 5 years. Yes it was an elite eight but the way that run ended was so bad. I'd give 1 S16 in 5 years at IL to be at the passable level but certainly not what the program could achieve. Also, the 2021 end of year loss to Loyola was so inexplicably bad. Not the loss per se but Porter Moser made Brad look silly for 40 minutes that day.

This program could reasonable make a S16 3 or 4 out of 10 years & when clicking reach that level multiple years in a row. It has happened before.

I'm not calling for him to be fired. It certainly wouldn't happen barring a couple bad years in a row. It is very troubling though that there is a recurring pattern of buzzkill home losses every year under Brad. Games like Saturday where we appear woefully unprepared to play at the game's start. We did "right the ship" but still came up short. These losses turn a 2 seed into a 5, 3 seed into a 6, etc that leads to a much more difficult path in March for a coach that has not proven to be a tactical genius.

This season appears to be shaping up to be another one of those 24-10 type seasons. 6 seed & home by the first weekend. Not awful by any stretch but the program should aspire to more IMO.
 
#220      
The Sprouting Divot
Illiniguy13 said:
I've seen some Illini fans spiral after losses but this is memorable. Illini nation is just in shambles after Nebraska 😄
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Not to put words into the mouths of any other discontents, but the disappointment for me isn't so much Nebraska or this game specifically, as just the unfortunate familiarity (predictability, really...) with the entire ordeal.
 
#221      
rdk573
Illiniguy13 said:
I've seen some Illini fans spiral after losses but this is memorable. Illini nation is just in shambles after Nebraska 😄
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It's expectations vs reality. Expectations based on the recruits is that we were a final 4 caliber team this year. I think based on game results , we are not. That's where the disappointment arises
 
#222      
Second place is 1st loser
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I think a reasonable take right now is that (A) Nebraska is a very good basketball team, and (B) they are not SO good that we couldn't have defeated them on our home floor.
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I made a bit of an edit as to what is a reasonable and fair take.

A)That's just a fact. They're really good right now. They're on a team wide heater who beat us at our place and made Wisconsin look like a 5th grade team when playing them at home. They're on a tear right now. Not too many teams could have survived the three point barrage of right hooks that we took and still have been in the game at the end. The last one just put us on the mat with no time to get up.

B)What I changed in your statement is that beating them should not have been expected by our players or fans. We could have absolutely beaten them and had every right to feel confident. We're very good at home. We needed to play really well to beat them. Every team is going to have to play really well to beat them. Any team, not named Michigan, will have to be on their A game to win. They are a team that isn't going to beat themselves, they're extremely well coached, they play defense and they can splash the three. The name of the front of their jerseys is keeping them out of the top 10 right now.

Now, none of us know if they can keep this torrid shooting up. We did this last year a handful of times, but there were also times where we lost because we relied on the three. There is no team in college basketball that could have beaten us last year when we played Indiana and Oregon. Both road games. We were on a different planet shooting the ball. That said, we had some games where we put a 4 of 26 performance out there to get sick at. I kind of have that same vibe with the Huskers, but we'll see. If they shoot it the way that shot it their last two games.....good luck stopping that.
 
#223      
Iloveorangekoolaid
Illiniguy13 said:
I've seen some Illini fans spiral after losses but this is memorable. Illini nation is just in shambles after Nebraska 😄
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My frustration is not with Nebraska. It’s letting Nebraska come in mentally tougher and more ready to play. It’s already happened a few times this season. We’ve gotten away with winning some of those games. It’s burying ourselves down 10 plus points in both halves mostly due to effort and taking bad or lazy shots. It’s year after year of one player cooking us with either no adjustments or bad adjustments. This game hurts our chances at a regular season title, a top 4 seed in the B10 tourney, a top 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. It’s not a bad loss because it’s Nebraska. It a bad loss for a program that has high aspirations. Missing free throws has cost us 2 games this season already. We are probably going to be favored in either 7/8 or 8/8 next games depending on the Iowa game. Anything worse than 7-1 to that group of teams is completely unacceptable if this team wants to have a special season.
 
#224      
Second place is 1st loser
Fly Illini Fly! said:
I genuinely figured when Brad's extension was announced this summer this argument would be dead for good. But not to be!
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I thought the same thing. I figured this was a topic we could cross off of the list of yearly debate.

I'm guessing only some, not all, are aware of how the contract is structured. Brad isn't allowed to go/interview anywhere else for greener pastures(also a source of off-season freak out) and he was extended basically until he retires. He'll be damn near 70 when this deal is up. It's security for both sides.

This has always been a source of freak out in the off-season, but a December buzzer beating loss triggered it four months early.

Never change Loyalty. Never change.
 
#225      
Illinialldayeveryday
I think the freak out is not this loss per se, but it happens every year and multiple times. Can't we ever just go through a year and win the homes one we should? Dropping games happens but as 10 point favorites is ridiculous. I like the Nebraska team but odds are they are peaking right now. Guessing it will be more 5-7 type seed.
 
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