Brad Underwood Both 'Pleased' and 'Pissed' About Florida Scrimmage

That Illinois-Florida scrimmage was played more than a week ago, on Oct. 25, but Underwood hadn’t spoken to the media about it until Sunday. It’s safe to say the Illini head man saw both positives and negatives from his squad:

Brad Underwood on Illinois' scrimmage against Florida

“I was pleased with our freshmen … in the Florida scrimmage," Underwood said. "Their role identification was way ahead of ours. You can see they had guys that played in the national championship game and won it. … We’re still throwing bodies out there that had never faced that caliber: [David] Mirkovic and Keaton [Wagler] – and yet they did great."

Mirkovic and Wagler, each of whom has firmly placed himself in the Illini rotation despite being true freshmen, surely were challenged against Florida, but they seemed to answer the bell – evident in the few clips released by Illinois on social media.

But the Illini didn’t satisfy their head coach in every manner against the Gators. Between Florida’s immense size in the frontcourt and Illinois’ relative youth and subsequent lack of strength and physicality – especially in comparison to Florida’s veteran-rich roster – most wouldn’t expect the Illini to control the glass, but Underwood isn’t most.

“We got outrebounded at Florida – that pissed me off," he said. "I wasn’t very happy about that. But for us to be the team we want to be, we’ve got to be a good rebounding team."

Since Underwood took over at Illinois, the program has consistently been one of the best rebounding teams in the country. That was the case a year ago (when Illinois led the nation in rebounds per game), and you'd better believe the expectation is for more of the same in 2025-26.

Still, Underwood didn't seem to be terribly concerned about the final outcome or score – and for good reason. Each opportunity for live action against a different team is a welcome sight and a chance for the Illini to grow and develop.

“Every scrimmage [or] exhibition now has a positive," Underwood said. "They’re more for me about figuring out who we are – what our weaknesses are, what our strengths are – than an outcome. Then we can go to work. Then we can actually have a base to try to get better from.”