Illinois basketball had more than its own 2-0 start to smile about after Friday night.
Valparaiso’s trip to West Lafayette turned into one of those results nobody saw coming. Purdue, set up for what should have been a routine buy game, got stunned by the Beacons in double overtime instead of cruising to an easy win.
The connection that made the upset hit differently for Illinois fans was on the sideline. Valpo’s head coach is former Illini player Roger Powell, and after the game he was interviewed on Big Ten Network by Bruce Weber, the coach who once led him at Illinois.
If you haven’t seen Bruce Weber interview his former player Roger Powell yet, it’s what makes sports great. Powell was a starter on Weber’s Illinois national runner-up team in 2005. Last night, they talked after Powell’s Valpo team stunned Purdue. pic.twitter.com/fm6WUVj0aW
- John Fanta (@John_Fanta) November 7, 2026
The exchange carried instant nostalgia. Weber and Powell talked about the special moments they had already shared at Mackey Arena, including Illinois clinching the Big Ten regular season title there in March 2004. Then Weber shifted into the bigger story: Powell’s program had just pulled off a massive upset.
Powell’s time in Champaign runs deep. He spent four seasons at Illinois, with his final two coming under Weber.
Those years brought plenty of success. In 2003-04, Illinois won the Big Ten regular season title and reached the Sweet 16.
The next season, the Illini won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles and went all the way to the NCAA championship game before falling to North Carolina.
For Illinois fans, the clip was a reminder of a strong past and a reason to feel good about Powell’s rise. He’s now building his own program, and the win over Purdue showed what he can do.
It also offered a little preview of what Illinois may face down the road. The Illini play Purdue twice this season, and this isn’t the same Boilermakers team from years past. Still, the upset gives Brad Underwood a blueprint to study before January 5 and February 12 arrive.
It was a fun moment, a proud moment, and a reminder that Powell has climbed the coaching ladder the hard way. For Illini Nation, it was all good feelings.
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Former Illini Adds A Dangerous Twist To Illinois Biggest Test
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Underwood touched on Gibbs-Lawhorns scoring ability in his pregame press conference, and it is easy to see why Illinois would pay close attention. The question now is whether the kind of offensive success he showed at the mid-major level can hold up with the same consistency against high-major competition, especially in a game where every possession figures to matter. [Read more 🡒]