CHICAGO — Over the past few seasons, he’s helped return the program to the top of the Big Ten conference.

In 2021, Illinois won the Big Ten Men’s Basketball tournament and then next year got a share of the regular season championship for the first time since 2005.

After the program missed the NCAA Tournament for nearly a decade, they’ve gone to the “Big Dance” the last three seasons.

Now Brad Underwood is hoping Illinois takes its next step toward the program’s first national championship with a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, something that’s escaped the Illini so far in his tenure at the school.

That journey in 2023-2024 included an exhibition game win over No. 1 Kansas on Sunday, but really begins on Monday when they open the season against Eastern Illinois at the State Farm Center.

Before that happens, Underwood joined GN Sports to talk about what’s ahead for the team with Jarrett Payton. You can watch that conversation from the October 31 show in the video above.