Illinois coach Brad Underwood stole a quote from Houston coach Kelvin Sampson after the Fighting Illini’s Final Four loss to UConn.

Sampson, one of the best coaches to never have won a national championship, knows a factor or two about March Madness heartbreak, which is precisely what Underwood was feeling after Illinois’ 71-62 loss on Saturday, April 4, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

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“I feel sad,” Underwood informed reporters after the recreation. “I’m sad. If you want to know the truth, I’m sad. But I’ll reflect on some of the other stuff later. Seasons coming to an end sting. I’m going to steal a quote from Kelvin Sampson: ‘I may not be as big a part of their life, but they are my life.'”

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Illinois vs UConn, title‑recreation strain. See images

Andrej Stojakovic #2 of the Illinois Fighting Illini drives to the basket against Solo Ball #1 of the UConn Huskies in the first half of the Final Four of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 04, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Illinois had overwhelmed every group it confronted in the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament by double-digits until going through the Huskies, who have given the Illini suits in current years. Illinois’ three-lowest scoring outputs of the previous three seasons all came against UConn, scoring 52 factors in 2024’s Elite Eight loss, 61 factors in a nonconference recreation this season and 62 in its Final Four loss on April 4.

UConn denied passing lanes all evening and made issues tough for Illinois’ potent offense, limiting the Illini to only three assists as a group, two of which came from star true freshman Keaton Wagler, who also scored 20 factors with eight rebounds.

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Underwood took the highway less traveled to Illinois as the head coach at Dodge City Community College in Kansas and Daytona Beach Community College in Florida before turning into a multi-year assistant at Kansas State and South Carolina. He got his Division I teaching begin at Stephen F. Austin and parlayed a one-year Oklahoma State stint into his present function at Illinois.

The 62-year-old coach did not take Illinois’ run back to the Final Four for the first time since 2005 frivolously, particularly given his profession path.

“If you guys don’t know me, I’m about relationships,” Underwood said. “If anybody remembers me for wins and losses, then I didn’t do a very good job as a human being. The one thing this did for me was bring a lot of people who I haven’t talked to reached out, and there’s a lot of people here supporting me and my family.

“That’s what this expertise is about for me. For that group of guys in there, that’s a lifetime reminiscence, and I could not be more excited about that.”

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Underwood didn’t spend much time discussing what went wrong for Illinois after the game, although he did note the Fighting Illini’s poor shooting night, as they shot 34% from the field and 23% from 3-point range.

He did make an emphasis, though, on giving his 2025-26 roster their flowers after an impressive season that came up short.

“Am I aggressive? Does right now stink? It hurts. My intestine hurts so dangerous proper now, I really feel for all of them,” Underwood said. “But I’m also excited about the pleasure that we introduced a lot of people in this run. And we got Illinois back to a degree where they’re in Final Fours again.

“By God, as long as I’m ball coach, I better not take 21 (expletive) years to get back there.”

This article initially appeared on USA TODAY: Brad Underwood emotional after Illinois’ Final Four loss vs UConn



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