Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood to get contract extension

The new deal will keep Underwood through the 2026-27 season. The deal is pending approval at a UI Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 23.

SHARE Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood to get contract extension
Brad Underwood will receive a contract extension through the 2026-27 season.

Brad Underwood will receive a contract extension through the 2026-27 season.

Paul Sancya/AP

Illinois men’s basketball head coach Brad Underwood will receive a contract extension that will keep him through the 2026-27 season. The deal is pending approval at a UI Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 23.

Underwood’s proposed contract will move his total annual compensation into the top 10 nationally and is fully guaranteed through the next four seasons. It also includes bonus opportunities for advancing in the NCAA Tournament and other metrics.

Illinois earned the fourth NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed in school history after winning 14 of 15 games over a two-month stretch. The Illini won their first conference tournament title since 2005, and their 19 wins against conference foes in 2021 set a school record.

Illinois’ 29-11 record in Big Ten play the last two seasons with Underwood is the best mark in the conference.

The Latest
The man was shot in the left eye area in the 5700 block of South Christiana Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side.
Most women who seek abortions are women of color, especially Black women. Restricting access to mifepristone, as a case now before the Supreme Court seeks to do, would worsen racial health disparities.
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.
He launched a campaign against a proposed neo-Nazis march at a time the suburb was home to many Holocaust survivors. His rabbi at Skokie Central Congregation urged Jews to ignore the Nazis. “I jumped up and said, ‘No, Rabbi. We will not stay home and close the windows.’ ”