CHAMPAIGN – Illinois would've loved to bring another Kofi Cockburn, but 7-foot, 285-pound two-time All-Americans aren't always readily available. So when Cockburn – one of the most imposing forces in Illini basketball history – decided to go pro after three dominant seasons with the Illini, head coach Brad Underwood and his staff had to find a different way to play offense, rather than ball screens and throwing it down low to the Jamaican juggernaut.
But Cockburn's departure also gave Underwood and his son, assistant coach Tyler Underwood, a blank slate to build the type of offense they actually dreamed about.
In Underwood's first five seasons at Illinois, he tailored his offense around the talent he could get to a historically proud but then-rebuilding program. Assistant coach Orlando Antigua's connections in New York and the Caribbean helped him land Cockburn, who greatly lifted the Illini's floor and helped lead Illinois to three straight top-four Big Ten finishes, including a share of the 2021-22 Big Ten championship, the Illini's first since 2004-05. Chicago star Ayo Dosunmu gave Underwood his first transcendent star: a two-way, tone-setting, clutch, killer of a guard, who helped draw Cockburn to the program. Smaller guards Trent Frazier, Da'Monte Williams, Adam Miller, Andres Feliz and Andre Curbelo also played significant roles in Illinois' ascension.
To his credit, Underwood's adaptability was a key to the Illini's rise. He ditched his spread offense that carried him to a 53-1 Southland Conference record at Stephen F. Austin for a ball-screen-heavy offense around his talented guards and Cockburn. He ditched his in-your-face pressure defense, which forced turnovers but allowed a lot of layups, for a more passive but effective drop coverage with Cockburn in the middle.
Yet, when his roster almost entirely reset following the 2021-22 Big Ten title – but another first-weekend NCAA Tournament exit – Underwood and his staff had the blank canvas to draw up the type of offense that had intrigued Underwood: more spacing, more positional size, more skill. Simply, a team centered around offense that has answers to any defensive coverage.
And now, Underwood had the winning and player development to sell to the type of talent he needed to operate that offense.
"I've always thought that you had to have offense to win, and yet to me, it's never been about the action you run," Brad Underwood said. "To me, it's figuring out how to score. Why do we emphasize offensive rebounding? Why do we emphasize getting to the free-throw line? It's being able to create space. But it's always been about maximizing your best players and your most efficient players and putting them in their best spots, whether it was Kofi as the center or Ayo or Trent or whatever. But we did have to redefine some things."
Tyler Underwood – the Illini's 30-year-old offensive coordinator who is influenced heavily by studying NBA teams like the Boston Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder – gives his father credit for this offensive vision, while Brad Underwood gives his son credit for "almost all of it."