Basketball
Brad Underwood staying positive amidst Kylan Boswell injury
For the past few seasons, Underwood has had to go through stretches of time without a key piece in the starting lineup.
Every season, Brad Underwood seems to deal with some kind of adversity. Whether it is Kofi Cockburn missing games due to an NCAA ruling or rampant injuries or suspensions in the middle of the season, the Illini cannot seem to catch a full season of a full roster. When news surfaced that senior guard Kylan Boswell fractured his shooting hand in practice, many Illini fans started to despair. Rightfully so, as this team is heading into the thick of a difficult stretch of Big Ten games.
However, Brad Underwood had a calming message for fans and supporters after a comprehensive win over the Maryland Terrapins on Wednesday night.
Quote from Brad Underwood
“We’ll figure the basketball out. What do we want to become, and what are the minor tweaks that we’re going to make that don’t throw us into a complete overhaul type mode? When we were without TJ (Terrence Shannon Jr.), we made changes that we never got away from when he came back. The offensive changes ended up being great for us. But still, I get a knot in my stomach for Kylan.”
The games without Terrence Shannon Jr.
Remember, when Terrence Shannon Jr. missed six games in the 2023-2024 season, guys stepped up. Ty Rodgers, for one, averaged 10.2 points and 6 rebounds in that six-game stretch. Marcus Domask averaged 20.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 5.2 assists during that time period as well. When Shannon Jr. returned, Domask continued that same kind of hot streak and turned into the perfect complementary scorer. In this team, I expect Andrej Stojakovic, Jake Davis, and David Mirkovic to all have increases in their statistical production. Kylan Boswell is the perfect glue piece to insert back into the lineup once these guys get going.
Brad Underwood and Illinois have no choice but to turn this news into somewhat of a positive. Luckily for Underwood, he has dealt with this kind of bad luck before and appears ready to will his team towards maximizing each and every game.
