Brad Underwood details Illinois basketball's new-look 2026-27 offense

“It wasn’t easy,” Underwood said of switching to a new offense, one pitched to him by Tyler Underwood, his son and Illinois' offensive coordinator. “He presented it the right way. And I’ll give him credit for that, because it was very similar to a lot of spread stuff that I had run previously and had a lot of success with.

“And the concepts – once I started studying the concepts and understanding what it could be, and then trying to imagine it with our personnel – it made sense. It was a 10-day period where I was pretty skeptical, for the simple reason we had a lot of success last year. I knew we would have to change because we didn’t have Keaton [Wagler]. But I didn’t quite know this.

“And the biggest key is a tribute to our players, because I knew we were going to have to have some depth to do this. And so they’ve been very good. Taking the hands off has probably impacted me more in a positive way than anything else. And it’s pretty nice not to have to call offenses and defenses.

“And we truly don’t run plays. So that part’s pretty easy. We meet every single day and we’re talking about concepts, and adding this or adding that. But that part has been great. It’s no different than football. Got an offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator. That’s who our guys meet with. 

“And it’s that singular voice [that] is great. And then when I need to step in, my voice probably has more power than it did before, because they’re not tired of hearing me all the time. So it’s been really good.”

There's lots to unpack here. But let’s start with this new Illini offense. Boiled down to its simplest form, it’s this: ball screens are rare (the biggest change), it’s free-flowing and it’s predicated on heavy off-ball movement.

There are certain priorities and goals. As always: Get to the paint and collapse a defense. Illinois wants players in the corners and at top of the key on those drives. So there’s obviously a certain level of structure – but not much.

At the end of the day, it’s trusting that Illinois’ personnel is smart and skilled enough to just play basketball. (Spoiler alert: the Illini are.) And the unpredictability that comes with a lack of set plays makes this team a massive headache scout.

The biggest question: Is the risk worth it? This seems like either an ingenious, revolutionary idea that will go down in the history books – or an entirely unnecessary attempt to reinvent an already exceptionally effective wheel. Only time will tell. But the Underwood father-son duo has an offensive track record deserving of some trust.

Not running any plays is interesting, though. We saw how often Illinois just dumped the ball into someone posting up in the short corner during baseline-out-of-bounds plays a season ago. Meanwhile, Dan Hurley would earn his UConn team a free bucket in practically every one of those instances on the other end. (And guess who won that matchup – twice?)

When offense gets stagnant in the halfcourt – which is inevitable even for the best offenses – it’s really nice to have a play or two in your back pocket to manufacture an easy one and build some momentum for your club. Presumably, the Illini still have a handful of SLOB and BLOB plays to fall back on. How often they’ll go to them remains to be seen.

In any case, Illinois' offense isn't likely to face some sort of epic collapse. Underwood has been doing this a long time, and his offensive success isn’t anything new. (Fun fact: His 2016-17 Oklahoma State team had the No. 1 offense in the country, per KenPom.)

Underwood's adaptability and willingness to embrace change – even, from the outside looking in, when it isn’t necessarily needed – is a testament to what makes him, and subsequently Illinois, so successful in this always-evolving world of college sports.