Illinois coach Brad Underwood discusses approach to filling assistant coach vacancies
Illinois coach Brad Underwood spoke with the media on Tuesday afternoon and covered a myriad of topics, including the hiring of new assistant coach Chester Frazier.
Illinois hired Frazier to fill one of its two assistant coaching vacancies. Both Orlando Antigua and Ron Coleman left this offseason for similar jobs at Kentucky.
“I’ve very much been looking for someone who has a vested interest in Illinois basketball and winning Big Ten basketball,” Underwood said. “There was nobody better than [Frazier].”
#illini Brad Underwood on Chester Frazier: "I've very much been looking for someone who has a vested interest in Illinois basketball and winning Big Ten basketball. There was nobody better than him." pic.twitter.com/C1yzZltTHe
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
Underwood also shared some insight into what he’s looking for in Illinois’ final assistant coach vacancy. He said he wouldn’t hire a coach in order to recruit a specific player and that he values character.
#illini Underwood said character will be important in filling the rest of his staff, guys are familiar about his program. No interest in "I can bring this guy."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood: "I'm never going to hire a guy for a player."
Has to personally like the coach. It's about finding the pieces that fit our culture and then do their jobs on both ends, that's recruiting and coaching.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood said he's looking for someone to complement Chester Frazier on the staff. "I want different pieces."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood said he gets so many texts and calls about the open job that he can't respond to all of them.
On budget: "We're acting like a top-10 program."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
Illinois is losing a lot of talent from its 2020-21 team that won the Big Ten Tournament, but the Illini should still be competitive next season. Key players like Trent Frazier, Da’Monte Williams and Andre Curbelo are all expected to return.
Curbelo is especially exciting for Frazier, who complemented his basketball IQ on Tuesday.
#illini Chester Frazier on Andre Curbelo: "Special. Special. He's got high-speed WiFi upstairs."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
Underwood did not give a timeline for announcing a hire for Illinois’ third assistant coach.