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Illinois coach Brad Underwood shared a scathing message on Saturday criticizing a lack of leadership among his players after the No. 17 Fighting Illini were upset at home by Penn State (7–3).
The 74-59 loss marked Illinois’ second in its two conference games thus far, and came just eight days after the program fell on the road against No. 13 Maryland, 71-66, on Dec. 2. In the aftermath of Saturday’s disappointing defeat, Underwood, who’s in his sixth season at the helm, unleashed a blistering rant about the effort shown by his players before offering an interesting reply to a question about star guard Terrence Shannon Jr.
Underwood told reporters there was a “complete lack of leadership and a complete lack of effort that was given today.” He added that the Nittany Lions, the oldest team in the country, “played like grown men” and deserved to win while his team played “very, very inspired basketball from the second we landed from Madison Square Garden until now.” Illinois upset No. 2 Texas at MSG on Tuesday.
“From the very first play they scored to the two practices before this game, completely unacceptable. The lack of leadership on this team is zero, it is none. Inexcusable,” Underwood said. “We have been atrocious in practice, maybe the two worst days of practice leading up to a game I’ve been part of and that’s leadership. Plain and simple, leadership. Put it bold damn print, leadership, lack of. And no effort, that’s what happens in this league when you have none of that.”
Underwood was then asked if he’ll look to certain players to correct the issue, leading to a question about what he thought of Shannon’s leadership. Before the question concluded, however, Underwood simply made a fart noise into the microphone.
“That’s what I thought of that today,” he said.
Shannon, a senior transfer from Texas Tech who Underwood has previously spoke highly of, is currently ranked fourth in the Big Ten in scoring (19.3) but turned in one of worst games against the Nittany Lions. He finished the game with four points, three rebounds and a block.
While it remains to be seen how Illinois responds on the floor, Underwood’s harsh comments will likely ring throughout the locker room as the viral continues to make the round.
The Fighting Illini will next take the floor on Dec. 17 for a home matchup against Alabama A&M.
