Illinois head basketball coach Brad Underwood has been in the process of turning around a struggling program.

After a 26-39 record in his first 2 seasons start to his tenure, he seems to be succeeding at that by racking up 20 wins in each of the three seasons since then.

After stints at Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma State, Underwood has found a home in Champaign. Stadium analyst Jeff Goodman joined the ‘Illini Inquirer Podcast’ with 247Sports’ Jeremy Werner to discuss what he means to the program.

“He’s perfect for that fanbase,” Goodman said. “He embraces it. He gets it, and I think part of it is that he worked a long time to get there and to have that. He’s grinned it out, so I think he’s very appreciative of where he’s at.”

The Illinois fanbase, though its hasn’t seen heaps of success, is one of the best in college sports. They are passionate and sometimes unforgiving fans, but Underwood feeds off of that.

“I think there is a lot of coaches that can’t handle or don’t want to deal with the Illinois fan base and the insanity that those fans bring,” Goodman said.

Underwood, however, has gained the support of that insanity and now looks to continue on the upward trend that the program has been on. In the last two seasons, the Illini have made it to the round of 32 in the tournament, now Underwood looks to bring his team to the Sweet 16 and possibly further.