With at least one vacancy to fill, what direction will Underwood go?

CHAMPAIGN – The guy who showed up by himself is basically starting over again.

And when Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood makes the decision on filling the vacancies in the Illinois basketball coaching staff, it will be interesting in which path he follows.

As you recall, Underwood brought some support staff with him following his one year as coach at Oklahoma State, but he didn’t have a full-time assistant coach join from his previous staff join him with the Illini.

Mike Boynton was promoted from Oklahoma State assistant to the Cowboys’ head coach, and he retained Lamont Evans, who would eventually play a central role in the FBI investigation into college basketball.

So Underwood went about assembling a staff, which helped him rebuild the Illini into a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But after assistants Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman left arm-in-arm for Kentucky, Underwood headed back to the drawing board.

Not yet a premium member? Sign up now and get a 30-day FREE trial. Click on the promo below to get started. Enter promo code ILLINI30.