Illinois was Brad Underwood's dream job. Now, he has it in the Final Four

Brad Underwood is a Kansas native who has spent much of his lengthy college basketball coaching career in the Great Plains, southeast and southwest. His dream, though, was to one day find himself where he currently is — as the head coach of the Illinois men’s basketball program . On Saturday, March 28, Underwood helped lead Illinois to a 71-59 victory against Iowa in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Tournament , sending the Fighting Illini to their first Final Four since 2005.

REQUIRED READING: From overlooked to overjoyed, Keaton Wagler leads Illinois to Final Four After his team’s triumph, Underwood was asked about his career trajectory, which has taken him from the junior-college ranks to the lowest levels of Division I to, ultimately, the Big Ten. Specifically, he was asked about a comment he made more than a decade ago that Illinois was his dream job. Despite having no obvious ties to the school – he didn’t attend it and had never coached there before he was hired by the Illini in 2017 – Underwood said it was.

“I'm going to get emotional, but I've been doing this 39 years, and you dream about this as a kid, and I dreamt about doing it at Illinois,” Underwood said in his post-game news conference . “Back in the day when my wife bought Tyler, who was maybe two, a Brian Cook jersey, and you knew what a special place this was. And it always has been, and there's been no other thing for me.

This is my dream job, and it's very fulfilling to get where we're going. ” Brad Underwood on making his first Final Four: "I'm gonna get emotional, but I've been doing this 39 years. You dream about this as a kid.