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Brad Underwood’s son, Tyler, joins Illinois basketball coaching staff
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Tyler Underwood, son of Illinois coach Brad Underwood, is officially on staff with the Illini.
The program announced that news on Tuesday afternoon, officially naming Tyler their director of recruiting and scouting.
“Tyler has prepared for this opportunity his whole life,” Brad Underwood said in a statement. “He has always viewed the game from the coaching perspective and really focused his approach from that side of it more so than as a player these last couple of seasons. Tyler builds strong relationships, and he is respected in the locker room for how he’s pushed his teammates to help them achieve their best. He loves the University of Illinois, and when you combine that with his passion and knowledge for the game of basketball, he is an outstanding addition to our coaching staff.”
Tyler just finished a six-year collegiate career, including four seasons with the Illini. He appeared in seven games last season, and hit a 3-pointer in Illinois’ win over Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament.
Illinois will be tasked with replacing several key contributors from last year’s Big Ten-winning squad. The Illini have lost Ayo Dosunmu (NBA Draft), Kofi Cockburn (NBA Draft), Adam Miller (transfer) and others this offseason.
The Illini are bringing in a top-25 recruiting class, according to 247Sports Composite rankings. It’s the No. 23 class nationally and the No. 4 class in the Big Ten. Illinois has also added Utah transfer Alfonso Plummer and Florida transfer Omar Payne.
Illinois is currently projected as a No. 6 seed in Joe Lunardi’s way-too-early bracket projection for 2022.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.