Underwood Believes Exhibition Games With Fans Will Be Valuable For Illini
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Brad Underwood made it clear why his program chose the option of starting the 2021-22 season with two exhibition games against sub-Division I competition.
The Illinois fifth-year head coach knows there will be a 594-day gap between the last time this program played a home game in front of fans. Only four players on this current Illinois roster (Trent Frazier, Da’Monte Williams, Kofi Cockburn and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk) has experience of playing at State Farm Center with thousands of fans in the stands.
“Just the idea of getting 15,000 (fans) back in here excites me and I’m looking forward to seeing how our guys react to that,” said Underwood said Thursday morning.