Tag: Brad Underwood

Former Wisconsin basketball star receives crystal ball to transfer to Big Ten rival

What would your reaction be to AJ Storr committing to Illinois?

Former Wisconsin Badgers star guard A.J. Storr received a 247Sports crystal ball prediction to choose Illinois.

Storr entered the transfer portal after Wisconsin’s season-ending NCAA Tournament loss to James Madison. He also entered the NBA draft while maintaining his eligibility, though a return to college seems the more likely conclusion.

Related: Tracking Wisconsin basketball’s reported transfer portal visits and targets

Storr averaged 28.8 minutes, 16.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.6 steals in his one year with the Badgers. He was the engine of Wisconsin’s offense for much of the season, especially the team’s run to the final of the Big Ten Tournament.

A possible transfer to Illinois would mean three colleges in as many seasons for Storr. It would also mean seven schools in seven years dating to high school.

Illinois needs help on the wing entering 2024-25: Terrence Shannon Jr. is out of eligibility. Storr’s fit makes sense: He originally committed to the Illini out of high school before flipping to St John’s.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, is looking to find Storr’s replacement in the transfer portal. The Badgers are in pursuit of several of the portal’s top forwards as both Storr and Tyler Wahl’s production needs to be replaced.

For more on Wisconsin’s roster and transfer portal activity, check out Badgers Wire’s ongoing 2024 transfer portal tracker.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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Big Ten Notebook: Illinois advances to Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament

How is the Big Ten doing in the NCAA Tournament?

It hasn’t been a bad NCAA Tournament for the Big Ten.

For the first time since 2005, the Elie Eight will feature the Illinois Fighting Illini. On Thursday night, Illinois continued their championship run with a 72-69 win over Iowa State. In a hard-fought battle, the Big Ten conquered their latest challenge.

While Illinois has relied on its offense so far in the tournament, its defense shined on Thursday night. They held Iowa State to a 39 % shooting percentage and forced nine turnovers. While the rebound battle was close, Illinois took advantage of its second chances, recording 12 offensive rebounds.

Pray for the rims. pic.twitter.com/RFiZTXW6G5 https://t.co/fzqtuPfWhE

— Illinois Men’s Basketball (@IlliniMBB) March 29, 2024

As Illinois pulled off the upset, it was led by Terrence Shannon Jr. The Chicago native scored a team-high 29 points and added five rebounds to his resume. He also came through in the clutch with a steal and breakaway dunk in the closing seconds. Just like he has done all season, Shannon Jr. came through when needed.

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“People who know Terrence know what a great competitor he is,” Illini coach Brad Underwood told ESPN.“He was dialed in mentally.”

On Saturday, Illinois will be in action for arguably its toughest test of the tournament so far. They will take on No.1 UConn at 6:09 p.m. So far in the tournament, the Huskies have dominated, winning every game by at least 15 points.

Illinois basketball made history with win over Wisconsin Saturday

Wisconsin’s loss to Illinois was historic:

Wisconsin basketball has been finding itself on the wrong side of history since the start of February.

This time it comes at the hands of the No. 13 Illinois Fighting Illini, who triumphed over the Badgers 91-83 on Saturday afternoon. The game marked Illinois’ fourth consecutive win at the Kohl Center (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), making it the only program to accomplish that feat.

Related: Wisconsin faithful, college basketball world reacts to Howard Moore’s emotional return to Kohl Center

Wisconsin’s last win over Illinois came on February 18, 2019 when sophomore Brad Davison’s 18 points led the Badgers to a 64-58 victory. Illinois has dominated the series since then, winning seven straight games overall and four straight on the road.

The Kohl Center on January 17, 1998, so there have been plenty of programs to step onto its court. It’s startling to see that Illinois is now the only program to win four straight games on that floor.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

WATCH: What Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said about Ohio State after the loss

Watch what Illini head coach Brad Underwood said about Ohio State after the loss to the Buckeyes. Do you agree with his assessment of Malaki Branham? #GoBucks

Ohio State traveled to Champaign and found a way to stave off a late, furious rally from Illinois to win a game that keeps it right in the thick of the Big Ten regular-season title chase. It was a contest with a lot of emotion, a lot of back and forth, and a ton of drama, including two technical fouls that resulted in Illini head coach Brad Underwood being ejected from the game.

Underwood met with the media afterward to discuss what he saw and was quick to give credit to Ohio State for the game that it played in his own team’s building. In case you missed any of his comments, we’ve got the entire postgame press conference and everything he said about the Buckeyes thanks to the Illini Inquirer YouTube Channel.

Watch the below video and hear Underwood talk about the tough matchup OSU is for his team, the elite play of Malaki Branham, the respect he has for Chris Holtmann, and more.

Kudos to Underwood for giving credit to OSU despite his feelings for the officiating. There’s a decent chance Ohio State will see the Illini again in the postseason, but first, it will travel to College Park to take on Maryland Sunday.

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WATCH what Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said about Ohio State after the Big Ten Tournament Championship game

Ohio State came up just short of beating Illinois for the Big Ten Championship Sunday. Watch what Brad Underwood said about the Buckeyes.

Ohio State and Illinois staged an epic Big Ten Tournament Championship game on Sunday. The game went back and forth and eventually went into overtime before the Illini were able to make just a couple more plays than the Buckeyes down the stretch. As a result, OSU came up just short.

But Illinois coach Brad Underwood was impressed by what Ohio State did and how it played. He met with the media after the game and provided his thoughts on how his team played, but also went out of his way to compliment the Buckeye squad that took his team to the brink.

In case you missed anything from what he said, we’ve got his full press conference thanks to the folks at the Illini Report. Click on the below YouTube link and watch Underwood compliment Ohio State’s ability to shoot and score, the talent of Duane Washington, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mszsmXTHq64

Everything Illinois HC Brad Underwood said about Wisconsin basketball after the game

It was a day to forget for the Wisconsin Badgers as they couldn’t connect from deep, got manhandled on the glass and lost to Illinois

It was a day to forget for the Wisconsin Badgers as they couldn’t connect from deep, got manhandled on the glass and lost to the Illinois Fighting Illini 75-60.

The result now moves Greg Gard’s team to 8-5 in Big Ten play, a full four losses clear of the first-place Michigan Wolverines. And with a game against Michigan, two against Iowa, one more against Illinois and one against Purdue still remaining, a lot will need to go right for the Badgers to rise back to the top of the conference.

Illinois HC Brad Underwood had a lot to say about Wisconsin basketball before the contest, noting the Badgers’ shooting ability, the impact of Tyler Wahl and what his team would need to do in order to come away with a victory.

Well, winning the rebound battle by 26, holding the Badgers to 4-24 from three and dominating inside on both sides of the court ended up leading to a pretty easy victory for the Illini.

Here’s everything Underwood said about Wisconsin Basketball after the game:

Everything Illinois HC Brad Underwood said about Wisconsin basketball this week

We’re one day away from the Wisconsin Badgers visiting the Illinois Fighting Illini in a crucial Big Ten matchup for both teams

We’re one day away from the Wisconsin Badgers visiting the Illinois Fighting Illini in a crucial matchup for both teams.

Illinois is entering the game after an up-and-down couple of weeks, losing to Maryland and Ohio State in back-to-back games and then responding quickly with victories against Penn State, Iowa and Indiana

A similar story can be told about Wisconsin, as their losses against Ohio and Penn State put separation between them and the top of the Big Ten. The bounce-back ability was there, though, as the Badgers avenged their early-season loss against Maryland and recent loss against Penn State with solid wins in the respective rematches.

Related: The 2021 Big Ten men’s basketball tournament is switching locations

With Michigan sitting atop the Big Ten with an 8-1 record right now, this game is nothing short of massive for both schools with the Badgers sitting at 8-4 and Illinois at 8-3.

Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood spoke to media before Saturday’s matchup and had a lot to say about the Wisconsin team he is set to face and what challenges they bring on the court.

Here’s everything Underwood said about the Badgers:

Watch what Brad Underwood said about Ohio State postgame

Illinois was searching for a victory that would move it one step closer to a regular-season title in the Big Ten, and a guaranteed top-four finish in the league that would give it a double-bye in the upcoming conference tournament. But Ohio State …

Illinois was searching for a victory that would move it one step closer to a regular-season title in the Big Ten, and a guaranteed top-four finish in the league that would give it a double-bye in the upcoming conference tournament. But Ohio State had different plans.

The Buckeyes used rebounding and lock-down defense in the second half to erase a seven-point halftime deficit — outscoring the Illini by fifteen the rest of the way to win 71-63.

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood met with the media in Columbus following the game and gave OSU a ton of credit for what it did to make life difficult on his squad.

If you missed any of his comments, you can get them all thanks to the YouTube Channel of the Illini Report. Click on the below video and listen to Underwood discuss his team’s issues with rebounding, guarding in space, a lack of rhythm to the game, and more.

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