New University of Illinois men’s basketball coach Brad Underwood says he’s honored to be taking over a program in a city he’s visited many times before. The former coach at Oklahoma State spoke to reporters today at the State Farm Center after he was named the Illini’s 18th head coach over the weekend.
Underwood says he’s never forgotten seeing the arena packed for high school tournament games and Illini games he saw as an assistant coach with Western Illinois.
“And I use the term a lot, and you’ll hear me, I dream big. It’s a cliché that I obviously I didn’t come up with, but I do. I dream big, and I dream bigger. And winning a national championship is something that can happen here. And I want to be a part of that.”
Pending approval by the U of I’s Board of Trustees, Underwood will receive around 3-million dollars a year for each of the next six years.