Brad Underwood emotional over Illinois’ Final Four loss: ‘They’re my life’
Illinois coach Brad Underwood stole a quote from Houston coach Kelvin Sampson following the Fighting Illini’s Final Four loss to UConn.
Sampson, one of the greatest coaches to never win a national championship, knows a thing or two about March Madness heartbreak, which is exactly what Underwood was feeling after Illinois’ 71-62 loss on Saturday, April 4, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
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“I feel sad,” Underwood told reporters after the game. “I’m sad. If you want to know the truth, I’m sad. But I’ll reflect on some other things later. Seasons that come to an end sting. I’ll steal a quote from Kelvin Sampson: ‘I may not be such a big part of their life, but they are my life.'”
Illinois had beaten by double digits every team it faced in the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament until facing the Huskies, who have given the Illini their best in recent years. Illinois’ three lowest scores in the last three seasons all came against UConn, scoring 52 points in the 2024 Elite Eight loss, 61 points in a nonconference game this season and 62 in the Final Four loss on April 4.
UConn denied passing lanes all night and made things difficult for Illinois’ potent offense, limiting the Illini to just three assists as a team, two of which came from true freshman Keaton Wagler, who also scored 20 points with eight rebounds.
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Underwood took the road less traveled to Illinois as the head coach at Dodge City Community College in Kansas and Daytona Beach Community College in Florida before becoming a multi-year assistant at Kansas State and South Carolina. He started as a Division I coach at Stephen F. Austin and spent a year at Oklahoma State in his current role at Illinois.
The 62-year-old coach didn’t take Illinois’ return to the Final Four for the first time since 2005 lightly, especially considering his career path.
“If you guys don’t know me, I’m all about relationships,” Underwood said. “If anyone remembers me for the wins and losses, then I didn’t do a very good job as a human being. The only thing this did for me was bring a lot of people I didn’t talk to, and there are a lot of people here who support me and my family.
“That’s what this experience is for me. For that group of kids in there, it’s a memory of a lifetime, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.”
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Underwood didn’t spend much time discussing what went wrong for Illinois after the game, though he did note the Fighting Illini’s poor shooting night, who shot 34 percent from the field and 23 percent from 3-point range.
However, he placed an emphasis on giving flowers to his 2025-26 roster after an impressive season that fell short.
“Am I competitive? Does today suck? It hurts. My stomach hurts so bad right now, I feel bad for all of them,” Underwood said. “But I’m also excited about the joy that we’ve brought to a lot of people on this ride. And we’ve gotten Illinois back to a level where they’re in the Final Four again.
“By God, as long as I’m a coach, it better not take me 21 (expletive) years to get back there.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brad Underwood emotional after Illinois’ Final Four loss to UConn