Illinois Basketball: 3 takeaways from Illini victory over Jackson State

Coach Underwood and Coleman Hawkins’ Dynamic is Hilarious

People will go back and forth discussing where the line is on how far coaches can go while verbally berating their players on the court. Tom Izzo seems to be the star of that conversation once a year, and it brings out spicy takes every time. Coach Underwood is another coach who gets animated on the sidelines which can lead to some intense scenes.

Sophomore Coleman Hawkins found himself getting the brunt of Underwood’s yelling against Jackson State, despite playing an outstanding game. Hawkins scored 13 points to go along with 8 boards and 3 assists, but that didn’t stop Underwood from getting on him after a few questionable decisions during the game.

One stretch when the 6’11” Hawkins threw a behind-the-back pass in transition that resulted in a turnover particularly set Underwood off. All eyes in the arena immediately went to watch him lose his cool for about 60 seconds.

Hawkins is a character on the floor who talks trash and plays loose, and Underwood is an animated coach who doesn’t handle mental mistakes well which often leads to hilarious exchanges like this. Despite how much Underwood gets on him, the coach sings Hawkins’s praises to the media and always goes on about how special of a player he will be. This to me is a sign of a healthy player-coach relationship. Underwood pushes him to his potential which will bode well for Hawkins and the Illini in the future.

While there will be more moments when Underwood snaps on Hawkins in the future, I think that’s just the best way he thinks he can coach him. I expect a big season out of Hawkins, and I can’t wait to see how he performs with a bigger role this year.