Brad Underwood coaching timeline: How many teams has Illinois HC coached and career record

Brad Underwood coaching timeline: How many teams has Illinois HC coached and career record originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Under Brad Underwood, the Illinois Fighting Illini have become an annual contender in the Big Ten.

Six times, he's led the squad to the NCAA Tournament, and in five of those appearances, the Illini have won at least one game.

As one of the most experienced coaches in the country, Underwood has built a successful program in Champaign that's produced a growing list of All-Americans.

Here's a look at Underwood's full coaching history, record and more.

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Brad Underwood teams coached

In total, the 62-year-old Underwood has spent time as a coach at nine different schools. Of those nine, six of them were NCAA schools; he also had stints at private universities and community colleges.

Underwood has held five different head coaching roles. He's been an NCAA head coach in every season since 2013, when he first joined Stephen F. Austin.

He began as a graduate assistant at Hardin-Simmons, a private university, in 1986, and Underwood gradually progressed through the coaching ranks to be the head coach at a community college, an NCAA assistant, then an NCAA head coach.

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Brad Underwood coaching timeline

Hardin-Simmons (graduate assistant)

Underwood, who played college basketball at Hardin-Simmons, Independence Community College and Kansas State from 1982-86, returned to his roots to begin his coaching career.

He spent the 1986-87 season back at Hardin-Simmons as a graduate assistant.

Dodge City Community College (head coach)

Underwood was given an early opportunity as a head coach in 1988, becoming the leader of Dodge City Community College's squad. 

From 1988 to 1993, Underwood led the Conquistadors to a 62–60 record.

Western Illinois (assistant)

In 1993, Underwood was given his first NCAA coaching role when he joined Jim Kerwin's staff at Western Illinois.

It wound up being a position Underwood would spend a long portion of his career in. For 10 years, he was an assistant for the Leathernecks, gaining plenty of experience in the Mid-Continent Conference.

Daytona Beach Community College (head coach)

Underwood returned to being the head coach at a community college in 2003, hired by Dayonta Beach CC.

That's where Underwood began to break out as a coach — he led the team to a 70–24 record from 2003 to 2006, and was also named the Mid-Florida Conference Coach of the Year on two occasions.

Kansas State (assistant, associate head coach)

Underwood joined another of his alma maters in 2006, hired by Kansas State as an assistant under Bob Huggins, then Frank Martin.

In 2011, Underwood also received a promotion to associate head coach under Martin. Over Underwood's time at Kansas State, the team made four NCAA Tournaments, including an Elite Eight run in 2010.

South Carolina (associate head coach)

When Martin left Kansas State for South Carolina, he brought Underwood with him in the same role: associate head coach.

In Underwood's lone season with the Gamecocks, they went 14-18.

Stephen F. Austin (head coach)

Underwood earned an NCAA head coaching job for the first time in 2013. He was hired by Stephen F. Austin, replacing Danny Kaspar. 

Immediately, the Lumberjacks found success with Underwood at the helm. They went a perfect 18-0 in conference play to win the Southland Conference regular-season title, also securing an automatic NCAA Tournament bid by winning the conference tournament. Underwood was named the Southland Coach of the Year; the Lumberjacks upset VCU in the first round of March Madness, then fell to UCLA.

Underwood spent three seasons at Stephen F. Austin, and all three resulted in conference regular-season titles and tournament titles. In 2015, the team lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but in 2016, it won a game, accomplishments that have since been vacated.

Oklahoma State (head coach)

In March 2016, Underwood was hired by Oklahoma State as head coach, replacing Travis Ford.

He would only spend one year with the Cowboys, going 20-13 and falling to Michigan in the NCAA Tournament. 

Illinois (head coach)

Illinois landed Underwood as its replacement for John Groce in March 2017. He initially signed a six-year, $18 million deal, but as the Illini have progressed in recent years, he's signed extensions.

Underwood's squads went 14-18 and 12-21 in his first two seasons, but after going 21-10 in 2019-20, the team returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2021. The Illini had a strong 24-7 year, winning one March Madness game as a No. 1 seed after winning the Big Ten Tournament — Illinois' first win since 2005.

In 2021-22, Illinois was the Big Ten co-regular season champion, beating Chattanooga in the first round of March Madness, then falling to Houston. Similar results came in 2022-23, when Underwood's unit lost to Arkansas in the first round.

Illinois' success continued in 2023-24, going 14-6 in the Big Ten and winning the conference tournament to claim a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Illini then made their deepest run yet under Underwood, reaching the Elite Eight before falling to UConn.

After making another tournament appearance in 2025, falling to Kentucky in the second round, the 2025-26 season has been the most successful for Underwood's coaching career yet. He led the Illini to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they've made a run to the Final Four for the first time since 2005.

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Brad Underwood coaching record

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How many championships has Brad Underwood won?

Underwood has not yet coached a team to a championship. Over his time at Stephen F. Austin, he did lead the team to three Southland regular-season and tournament wins, and with Illinois, he'd guided the Illini to one Big Ten regular-season title and two tournament titles.

However, Underwood has continued to seek his first NCAA Tournament championship, with his deepest run yet coming in 2026 with Illinois' Final Four berth.

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