Brad Underwood isn’t hiding the target for Illinois’ next season. He said it plainly on CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein’s “Inside College Basketball Now” podcast: “I think it’s never about anything but a national championship for me.”
That line framed a conversation that touched both the end of Illinois’ March run and the shape of what comes next. Underwood looked back on the Illini’s path through the NCAA Tournament, but he also made clear that the 2026-27 team is being built as a fresh group with its own identity.
On the tournament run, Underwood said the overtime loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals may have had some effect, but he didn’t see it as the main reason Illinois surged later.
“I think there’s a little bit of that. I’m not gonna say that’s the reason … I think it’s more that we got out of the Big Ten.
We saw some different opponents, we were able to gain a little confidence. I don’t think we were necessarily tired, fatigued, fresh, whatever.
I don’t think that’s the biggest issue,” Underwood said. “We played well against Wisconsin.
They were just better that day.”
Illinois then beat Penn and VCU before running past Houston in Houston, and Underwood said the team came into that game locked in and ready for the challenge.
“We were definitely ready to play. We had heard enough about the ‘Houston in Houston,’” Underwood said.
“We knew what we were in for with the physicality with that mindset. I thought we were an extremely physical team, so we matched up.”
The Elite Eight brought a different kind of pressure. Underwood said the Hawkeyes, who had already beaten Florida and Nebraska, had him thinking through every possible outcome before the game even got going.
“No question,” Underwood said. “Is there an emotional letdown gonna happen?
You say ‘Well, it’s the Elite Eight, it shouldn’t.’ Then Bennett [Stirtz] opens the game on a heater and is just making everything.
And to be honest, we didn’t play great. We just happened to dominate the glass.”
After the loss to Uconn, Underwood said he has stayed forward-focused and still hasn’t watched a replay of the Final Four defeat.
“I’m very much a forward thinker. So I haven’t watched the Uconn game yet,” Underwood said.
“I did watch the Iowa game. I’ll probably wait until school starts when I’m in a bad mood someday and wanna be in a worse mood.
But I think it’s never about anything but a national championship for me.”
That forward-looking approach has carried into the offseason. Underwood said he hasn’t leaned on last year’s team as a template, because this version of Illinois is being treated like its own project.
“I won’t bring up last year with our team. This year’s got a new identity, new pieces, new parts,” Underwood said.
“We’ve made some significant changes in scheme and some things we’re doing. This summer has been a big summer of install for us.”
Some of that change comes from the newcomers, and Underwood sounded encouraged by what he’s seen. Quentin Coleman and Stefan Vaaks are projected starters, and he said both have fit in smoothly. He also singled out several freshmen who have made a strong early impression.
“We’ve got a group of freshmen that I’ve been extremely pleased with. Usually in the summer you feel like there’s a couple guys that maybe can’t help you right away.
I don’t feel that,” Underwood said. “I’ve been very impressed with Ethan Brown … 6-foot-4, great athlete, can really shoot it.
Landon Davis has been a very big surprise, a guy that’s 6-foot-9 got a 7-foot-2 wingspan, great athlete, but just turned into a much better shooter from 3 than I anticipated.”
Illinois has also leaned harder into the weight room with strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher, and Underwood pointed to the physical changes in several players.
“Zvonimir is 266 pounds now. He came in at 222,” Underwood said.
“Tomi’s about 270, but he looks completely different and he’s moving much better. Mirk’s 250, but he stayed home and didn’t play with his Montenegro national team and his body just looks better.
He looks like a good athlete.”
Underwood expects Mirkovic to take more ownership as a point-forward, especially with the ball in his hands after Wagler, while still stretching the floor as a shooter and creator.
Andrej Stojakovic didn’t come up in the weight-room discussion, but Underwood said he expects a “huge” leap from the senior anyway, especially on the glass and defensively.
“I think his confidence of being here, it’s not new anymore, he’s a veteran, the experience of winning, I think as a two-way player, has a chance to be an outstanding defender,” Underwood said. “I think he’ll be a much-improved rebounder, just because I screamed at him all year about it.”
He also pointed to sophomore big man Jason Jakstys, who missed much of last season after suffering a blood clot early in the year. Underwood said Jakstys “was gonna play a lot last year” and expects him to bring elite defense, rebounding and shot blocking.
As for the schedule, Underwood embraced the challenge of the non-conference slate, which includes North Carolina, Duke and Uconn. He said that kind of schedule is exactly what Illinois should be doing.
“It’s about hardening you, toughening you up, then when you get to the tournament, it just becomes ‘okay we’ve got another good opponent, we’ve seen that done that before,’” Underwood said.
And while he isn’t promising perfection, he did admit the idea of another Final Four run is very much on his mind.
“To go try to do it again, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it a lot,” Underwood said.
For Illinois, the path forward is about absorbing the noise, building chemistry, keeping the edge and handling the details. Underwood’s message was clear: the goal hasn’t changed, even if the roster around it has.
In Other News...
Illinois Fans Are Already Split Over This New Stadium Upgrade
Illinois opened the season with a noticeable new addition at Gies Memorial Stadium, unveiling a south end-zone videoboard that instantly became one of the biggest talking points around the program. The board is now the largest in college football, stretching about 69 feet high and 250 feet wide, and it anchors a broader technology overhaul that also brought in additional LED displays, better lighting, upgraded audio, stronger Wi-Fi and improved production equipment.
The project cost $20.94 million, and the reaction around the stadium reflected the split you might expect when a splashy amenity arrives before the on-field results do. Plenty of fans loved the scale of it and the way it delivers information, but others were quick to wonder whether that kind of money should have gone toward the football team instead. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Found Hope At Quarterback But One Concern Still Lingers
Illinois had enough on offense to put away UAB in a 42-23 win, and the most encouraging sign came from Katin Houser settling in at quarterback. He looked comfortable steering the attack and avoided the kind of shaky throws that can stall a new starter before he ever gets rolling. Collin Dixon also gave the passing game a clear focal point, turning into Housers most reliable target as the Illini found a rhythm through the air.
The bigger picture, though, is that the defense still left a door open even in a comfortable victory. Illinois 3-3-5 front showed it can generate pressure, but UAB found room in the middle of the field and kept the game from feeling fully controlled. For a team trying to build momentum around a promising quarterback performance, that kind of vulnerability is the detail that lingers after the final score fades. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Depth Chart Still Leaves One Big Week 1 Question
Illinois weekly depth chart updates are already starting to matter, and the early-season picture is fairly stable as Bret Bielema begins sorting through the 2026 roster. Illinois on SI is tracking the lineup throughout the season, adjusting for injuries and the announced position moves that tend to shape how the Illini look from one game to the next.
At the Sept. 3 press conference, Bielema said wide receiver Jayshon Platt and linebacker Daniel Brown are the only regulars expected to miss the UAB game, with both still projected back later in the season. Even with most of the two-deep intact, that leaves one obvious Week 1 question hanging over Illinois as it tries to settle into its first real game-week rhythm. [Read more 🡒]