March 29, 2026

HOUSTON — Just over nine years ago Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman stepped off the plane with his new head men’s basketball with the idea that the moment that occurred Saturday night was possible.

Brad Underwood, the basketball coach who arrived at Willard Airport on March 18, 2017 after leaving Stillwater, Oklahoma for just one season, says he knew a Final Four trip would happen.

“I think we both knew what Illinois basketball was capable of otherwise I don’t think either of us would’ve wanted to be on that plane together nine years ago…that is what, I think, what brought us together,” Whitman said. “We were able to sit down in Stillwater and talk about our vision of where this thing could go and as the hours passed in his living room, it was obvious that he was somebody who I could trust. He had the same values that I have. He had the same vision of what Fighting Illini could become again. So, it’s better than I ever imagine but it’s a culmination of a conversation we started nine years ago in Stillwater, Oklahoma.”

He just didn’t think the journey to a memorable Saturday night in Houston would take nine years. Whitman, who oversaw the complete rebuild of the Fighting Illini men’s basketball knew he had to be the one in the partnership with patience and courage.

“These things don’t change overnight,” Whitman said as he snapped his fingers. “They just don’t. For him to have the conviction that he did…I’m at the practices, on the plane with the team, attending home and away games and saw what was happening in the practice gym. I just never lost confidence and faith in who (Underwood) is and the leader he could be.”

So, it’s fitting that long after the final seconds ticked away of a 71-59 win over Big Ten Conference rival Iowa to get Illinois back to the Final Four for the first time in 21 years, Whitman walked onto the court of the Toyota Center in Houston to give his head coach choice nine years ago the biggest bear hug possible.

“It’s better than I could’ve ever imagined but it’s a culmination of a conversation we started nine years ago in Stillwater, Oklahoma,” Whitman said.

It may not be worth asking if nine years when he stepped off that plane with Underwood if he thought the Final Four was in his future because frankly, Whitman didn’t know if being able to hire a coach like Underwood was in his future.

Whitman, a former All-Big Ten football player at Illinois from 1997-2000 had seen Illini men’s basketball as a student as a Big Ten power program and make a NCAA Tournament regional final in the final year of his undergraduate studies in Champaign-Urbana. Just seven days prior to arriving with Oklahoma State’s former head coach at Willard Airport in Savoy, Ill., Whitman opened a 23-minute media conference with a passionate speech about his desire and responsibility to return the men’s basketball program back to how he knew it as a student.

Nine years later, Whitman understandably had some difficulty putting into words what it meant to see Illini basketball return to the Final Four for only the third time in his lifetime.

“Jobs like this one aren’t really jobs at all. It’s more like a calling,” Whitman said. “You pour yourself into something like this, you don’t worry about the clock, you don’t worry about what day of the week it is and you don’t worry about what month of the year it is. You come in everyday and you try to make a difference…yeah, I’m excited for me but I’m so proud of all of our people who made sacrifices to get us here. To be able to say ‘thank you’ to all of them and tell them their work was worth it is a really powerful moment.”

Underwood’s embracing of a European recruiting revolution was more than approved by his boss along with getting the operation ready philosophically and financially for a pay-for-play era of constant roster movement. Nine years ago, Underwood felt compelled to get on the plane with Whitman in Stillwater, Oklahoma because he had found a new boss that wasn’t going to say ‘no’ more often than asking ‘how’.

“I knew we would get here and that’s not to sound arrogant but it’s to signify how I don’t run from anything and I knew it had been done here before,” Underwood said. “I’ve got an athletics director who believes in what we’re doing and the best part of Josh Whitman is he understands winning. He understands it’s very hard to do at the highest level.”

So, nine years after getting off that plane and seeing those fans gather in a small Central Illinois airport, the summary of what was going through Underwood’s head as he began to climb that ladder with scissors in his hand to cut the nets down at a NCAA Tournament regional final was actually an apology and a thank you at the same time.

“I’m sorry it took nine years. I think we had teams before tonight that were good enough to be here and they, for whatever reason, just got beat,” Underwood said. “It’s really hard. For some people it takes nine years. For other people, it never happens. I just knew it would happen but I didn’t want it to take nine years.”

Underwood is now one of two currently living coaches in program history who have produced a Final Four banner inside State Farm Center while leading the Illini men’s basketball program. Whitman will now always be the former alum athletics boss who brought that coach to Champaign-Urbana to begin what is now a historic journey.

“The greatest moment was standing on the ladder and holding the net,” Underwood said. “Because that was for the people. I could look up there and see the crowd. I can imagine what is going on on Green Street right now. You come with a vision to try and make something great and you understand that you’re creating memories for people. That’s something I really take enjoyment in.”