INDIANAPOLIS — Forgive Brad Underwood if he takes an extra beat to appreciate the novelty of his weekend surroundings as Illinois returns to the Final Four for the first time since 2005.
Ready and waiting, perhaps unimpressed by the pomp and circumstance on the periphery of a third trip to the Final Four in four years, stand UConn and head coach Dan Hurley. And that’s the piece of the Fighting Illini itinerary in Indy that Underwood finds painfully familiar.
UConn demolished Illinois 74-61 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28 and waylaid the Illini in the 2024 Elite Eight in Boston, a blowout by every measure that is memorable for the Huskies’ 30-0 run and 77-52 final score.
Only senior forward Alex Karaban remains from UConn’s previous tournament win over Illinois and the teams are changed in major ways since the November game. But in the days since Illinois defeated No. 9 seed Iowa to win the South, Underwood found a couple of common denominators comparing his losses to UConn’s 19-point comeback to defeat East No. 1 seed Duke on Sunday.
“I look at one guy — well, two. I look at Danny (Hurley) and then I look at Karaban,” he said. “Their culture is, I think this is their third Final Four. You understand why they’re here. It’s never — things have to go right in a 19-point comeback, and they did. But there was no quit. There was no lay-down. We’ve talked a lot about that.”
UConn (33-5) tournament breakout star Tarris Reed Jr. was coming off of an injury when the teams played earlier this season and All-American Keaton Wagler was a non-factor for Illinois (28-8), serving in a vastly different catch-and-shoot role as a spot-up sniper on the baseline. These days, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year handles the ball on every possession and gets the offense going as a point guard or point forward.
The Most Outstanding Player in the South Region, Wagler had 25 against the Hawkeyes and his best game of the year came in the state. He poured in 46 points on Jan. 24 at Purdue in a national coming-out party that featured 9-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. He led Illinois in scoring 19 times this season.
“It does give you a lot of confidence when they put that much trust in you,” Wagler said.
Wagler leads the Illini in scoring (17.9) and assists (4.3), ranks third in rebounding (5.0) and drew praise from UConn for not being a superstar in one sense that you “never see him take bad shots.” Wagler played only 14 minutes in the loss to UConn.
Hurley stressed to his newbies in the locker room, which happens to include Indiana kid and Elite Eight hero Braylon Mullins, that the Huskies aren’t here to hang a Final Four banner. The participants in the national semifinals receive watches in swag bags this week. Hurley couldn’t care less about the timepiece. The treasure Hurley wants the Huskies to focus on can’t be dug up until Monday night, and only after winning twice in the Final Four.
He said Friday he’s even willing to embrace the criticism received since he went eyebrow-to-eyebrow with referee Roger Ayers, risking a technical or ejection in the moments after Mullins had his “One Shining Moment” against Duke.
“I’m not a victim. I’ve done everything. I did what I did,” Hurley said. “We don’t allow victims in our program, and I’m not a 53-year-old man sitting up here like I’m some victim. I don’t want to waste a lot of time with it because it takes away from the team. But for me, the way I view what we’re going into in the game, when some people, again, view it as a game, just my family, how I was raised in the sport, where I’m from in Jersey, we look at it more like a battle.”
Underwood has attended the Final Four regularly during his 39 years in coaching — hundreds of college head coaches, assistants, eager recent grads, are in attendance again this weekend — which culminated in his first trip to the Final Four this week.
He’s been openly emotional about the realization of the dream walking around Lucas Oil Stadium and stepping on the elevated court with a fist pump for friends, family and Illini fans in attendance at Friday morning’s practice. It was No. 112 for Illinois since the journey began in October and a blatant reminder to Underwood his time for reflection isn’t here just yet.
“I’m 62 years old. I was a kid. I grew up watching this event,” Underwood said. “You’re the kid that’s in your driveway shooting hoops and you’re going to hit the game winner in the National Championship game. I never got to do that. It’s been well-documented my journey has been a little bit different than a lot of people, 26 years to become a head coach and some different paths to get here. You watch it, and you dream. I say this all the time: There’s no bigger dreamer than me. You get here, and there’s a moment of reflection when we got here. … There’s never a moment lost not thinking about the next game, thinking about maximizing the opportunity. And there will be more time for reflection after this is over.”
Karaban has won titles as a complementary piece to the likes of Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer and Donovan Clingan.
He enters Saturday’s national semifinal as the second-leading scorer (13.2 points per game) to Reed (14.7) with guards Solo Ball (12.9) and Mullins (11.9) capable of leading the team in scoring on a given night. Karaban had only five points against Duke but assisted on Mullins’ buzzer-beater and averaged 22 points in three 2026 NCAA Tournament games before he was tracking Cameron Boozer around the court in the Elite Eight.
Wagler, who turned 19 in February, ascended sharply since he last saw UConn and is projected to be a lottery pick if he opts to depart Illinois — the only major college program that recruited him out of Mission Northwest High School in Kansas — after one season. He was still having a few pinch-me moments in the Illinois locker room adorned with player photos and team logos, even asking aloud if he’s able to take some of the mementos when Illinois departs the Final Four.
Because the Fighting Illini are in Indy for banners and rings, too, but Underwood doesn’t mind a few smiles and fun along the path.
“So there’s a lot of excitement, but there’s a lot of gratitude for where we are,” Illinois senior Ben Humrichous said. “And what gratitude I think does for us and this team is adds an extra energy and effort to each of our moments, even just a focus in our preparation and commitment to our process. For me and a lot of our — for our team, it’s just gratitude, thankful for the moment. So we want to celebrate the success, but then even approaching the game with the respect that it deserves because of the culmination of the efforts up to this point.”
