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Big Ten Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches for 2019-20 season

By Joey Loose

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans looks on during a game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans looks on during a game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 05: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini complains to a referee during a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at the United Center on December 05, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Ohio State defeated Illinois 77-67. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 05: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini complains to a referee during a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at the United Center on December 05, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Ohio State defeated Illinois 77-67. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

8. Brad Underwood (Illinois)

There was a time when Illinois was a great basketball school, but the program has fallen on hard times in recent years. There hasn’t been an NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013, and the school hasn’t seen the second weekend since their title game run in 2005. Three of their successful former coaches are now in the Big 12, though let’s not discount the man currently running the show for the Fighting Illini.

If anyone can turn around this program, it might just be Brad Underwood. A former assistant under Frank Martin, he did great work as a head coach at the junior college level before transforming Stephen F. Austin. With the Lumberjacks, he scored a pair of NCAA Tournament upsets, going 89-14 in his three years in the Southland Conference. He parlayed that success into the Oklahoma State job, leading them to the Tournament in his one season with the Cowboys. Illinois came calling in 2017, landing a coach with an impressive resume after just four head coaching seasons.

Underwood is only 26-39 with the Illini, but things are looking up for Illinois. They managed to win 7 Big Ten games after a dreadful nonconference season last year. The team has brought in some solid recruits to build on a young team. Underwood won’t survive a few more seasons well below .500, but this shouldn’t be a worry. This could be an NCAA Tournament next season and could represent yet another fantastic turnaround by Underwood as a coach.

On the other hand, maybe things don’t turn around for the Illini. John Groce, Underwood’s predecessor was also a successful mid-major coach with multiple upsets on his resume. The recruits never came for Groce, but perhaps Underwood can succeed where he didn’t. A step forward is expected in year three at Illinois, though Underwood’s run at Stephen F. Austin already shows how impressive a coach he can be.

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