Brad Underwood is building an NBA factory in Champaign

Brad Underwood is building an NBA factory in Champaign

Call it an overreaction. Bradley Cole Underwood might go down as the founding father of a great basketball empire in Champaign. A tenure that started slow and with results arguably worse than his predecessor has outgrown and built upon it.

Just under two months ago, Brad Underwood, as he’s more commonly known, was speaking to the media to discuss the signing of Croatian big man Tomislav Ivisic. In the same breath that he touched on the skillset of his new 7-foot-1 Eastern European giant, he mentioned an NBA team that he seems to be drawing inspiration from while gearing up for the next season.

Despite his size, Ivisic has little to no trouble spacing the floor. He’s shown himself to be a capable scorer at all three levels.

“I like the versatility of that. It’s kind of a Minnesota Timberwolves-type lineup with spacing, and they each give us a little bit of something different on the defensive side,” Underwood said.

TCR can’t confirm if Brad Underwood had a time machine that told him where Terrence Shannon Jr. would be drafted, but we can confirm that in last week’s first round of the NBA Draft, TSJ was drafted 27th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“Carey [Booth]’s an elite shot blocker. Ben [Humrichous] is a possible positional guy who can guard multiple positions because he’s got great feet. Tomislav’s a guy that’s a proven rim protector and rebounder, and it gives us something different as well,” Underwood said. “I love the versatility of our front court.”

State Farm Center won’t host Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid next year, but the blueprint is there.

It’s not just on the defensive side of the ball, though — Underwood seems to be building an offensive system that creates pro-ready players. That became clearer when TCR spoke to SBNation basketball editor Ricky O’Donnell before this year’s draft to discuss Terrence Shannon Jr.’s draft stock.

“I think Illinois’ offense resembled a pro offense last year. Like, they were mostly a five-out team. They were sacrificing toughness inside by starting [Coleman] Hawkins at center to have spacing maximized,” O’Donnell said. “And part of the value of having their spacing maximized was that when Terrence was in space, you could basically beat anyone off the dribble.”

When Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley arrive on campus this summer, they’re not expected to stay for the long haul. Both players are touted as potential lottery picks in next year’s NBA Draft, a possibility that if realized would not just bring Illinois its first lottery pick since Meyers Leonard in 2012, but potentially its first one-and-done in program history.

Just one, or even two, one-and-done players are a far cry from what bluebloods like Duke, Kansas and Kentucky manage every year, but it’s several steps above where the program was just a decade ago.

It’s a new loo and feel to Illinois basketball that’s been made possible thanks to NIL. Roster turnover and flexibility from this past offseason is a thing of the present now, and it’s something that will be inevitable for next summer, too.

It might be new and uncomfortable to fans who are used to seeing the same player take the court for four or even five years, but it’s a concept that’s oddly familiar to Underwood.

Since his days at Dodge City Community College in Kansas, his first head coaching role, he’s embraced the general manager-like role, at least according to recently-appointed associate head coach Orlando Antigua.

“One of the benefits that coach [Underwood] has is that him being a junior college coach, he had to do that awful lot, where you had to try to replenish and replace almost an entire roster every year,” Antigua said during media availability shortly after being hired this spring.

If Underwood is the founding father of a new Illinois dynasty, Antigua’s face will be right next to his on Champaign’s basketball Mount Rushmore. The former Harlem Globetrotter, in his second stint with the Illini, played a big role in recruiting Ivisic. He recruited and coached his twin brother Zvonimir at Kentucky.

“In today’s world you get a couple guys, I always said that when I was a JUCO coach, ‘Just get a couple guys, no matter where they’re at in the program,’ but they have to understand what we’re doing and understand the lingo,” Underwood said before Antigua’s media availability.

Underwood is building something special in Champaign. The word ‘dynasty’ gets thrown around a lot, but a dynasty requires results. A lot of results. Something that won’t happen overnight.

We’re not saying Brad Underwood will take after Mike Krzyzewski or Roy Williams. But this offseason is an unprecedented one by Illinois’ standards, one that Coach K and Coach Williams might have been satisfied with when they were still courtside.