INDIANAPOLIS — Illinois coach Brad Underwood said he loved seeing the “giddy” smiles on his players’ faces Thursday as they walked into Lucas Oil Stadium, taking in a locker room covered with their photos and Final Four logos and stepping onto the court inside the massive stadium.
It’s not every day the Illinois players tip off in a football stadium, but they will be doing that Saturday when they face Connecticut in a national semifinal at the home of the Indianapolis Colts.
All four teams practiced on the court Thursday and will do so again Friday during a day of sessions that are open to the public.
“It helps having a day today, and you kind of knock it all out and get a feel for it and (get an) understanding that it is a little bit different,” Underwood said. “But it’s still business as usual, and we’re going to conduct it that way.”
The Illini used Thursday’s practice to get used to playing in such a large arena, which forward Jake Davis said alters depth perception a little. Illinois wing Andrej Stojaković had heard stories about how such venues can affect players, but he said it felt OK — at least without any fans in it.
“I’ve heard guys were missing layups just because of how much they could see behind the backboard,” he said. “But it felt fine. The court felt small compared to the arena. So we felt more bouncy. We felt like we were in good form.”
More Top Picks Garmin Vivoactive Hr
Davis thinks Illinois players will be good after a little more practice.
“I don’t think it was a big problem for me or any of the guys today,” he said. “I think we all shot up to our standards. I think it will be good for us to get in here tomorrow, get another good practice in and get some shots up and just get used to it.”
Odd memories
This weekend’s Final Four is the first in Indianapolis since the state of Indiana hosted the entire NCAA Tournament in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Illinois was a No. 1 seed in that tournament but lost to eighth-seeded Loyola in the second round at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Illinois coach Brad Underwood remembered it as a “unique experience” Thursday, recalling how teams used the nearby Triple-A baseball park as a recreation area.
“We never went outside,” Underwood said. “The day we were to go to the baseball field it rained.”
Connecticut coach Dan Hurley described the baseball-stadium excursion by saying the Huskies “got let loose in the yard.”
“All the teams were circling each other,” Hurley said. “It was bizarre. Listen, if you did great in that tournament, you deserve all the credit. If it went bad for you, and I’m not just saying that because it went bad for us, but you should get a pass. That was a mess.”
UConn lost to Maryland in the first round in a game in West Lafayette, Ind. Hurley didn’t enjoy reminiscing.
“Now I’m, like, jarred mentally up here,” he said at his news conference. “That was horrible.”
Illini reunion
Underwood said he thinks many players from the 1989 and 2005 Illinois Final Four teams also will be in attendance.
Underwood, who was an assistant coach at Western Illinois early in his career, credited those teams with making him believe winning at Illinois was possible.
“It’s one of the great things about the University of Illinois is the reunions are always great,” Underwood said. “They’re always treated like something special, and those guys have helped pave the way for this to happen. (If not for those teams), I might not be the basketball coach here. What those guys did was help me believe, and I’m very grateful for them.”
Road to the Final Four: Illinois is making its 1st appearance since 2005
With Champaign just a two-hour drive to Indianapolis and the Chicago area less than three hours away, Underwood said he “would think there would be some orange in the stands” this weekend, though he noted the large fan bases of all four teams.
If the Final Four is anything like Champaign’s Elite Eight celebration, where students stormed the streets on campus, it could be an Illini party. Davis said the fan celebrations after Illinois advanced were “awesome.”
“It shows how much love our Illini fans have for us and how big our fan base really is,” Davis said. “I took them for granted at first, not knowing how big they are. As time goes on, you can see the Illinois fan base is the biggest in the country and how much love they have for one another.”
Together again
Michigan’s “Fab Five” will reunite during Saturday’s Final Four.
Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson will be part of an alternate broadcast on truTV and HBO Max when the Wolverines face Arizona in the second national semifinal (7:49 p.m.). The winner will advance to play Connecticut or Illinois for the title Monday night.
“It’s going to be great, and we’re excited about it,” King told the Associated Press on Thursday in a telephone interview. “It’s a symbol of our support of the University of Michigan, especially because our team is doing so well in the tournament. The team has looked good all season, being dominant and setting records and the way they’re doing it, it’s been fun to watch.
“We want to just come together and be fans of guys on the cusp of doing something historical.”
The traditional broadcast will be on TBS, TNT and HBO Max.
The five members of Michigan’s iconic 1991 recruiting class, who led the Wolverines to the Final Four in 1992 and ’93, have reunited only a handful of times. Rose and Webber have been part of TBS, TNT and truTV’s studio crew during the NCAA Tournament.
The Fab Five was estranged for many years because of Webber’s association with a Michigan booster. The scandal resulted in the program having to forfeit victories from Webber’s two seasons and the Final Four banners being removed. The NCAA also banned Webber from associating with the program for 10 years.
The relationship healed after Howard was hired as Michigan’s basketball coach in 2019. Howard led the program for five seasons and was fired two years ago.
Associated Press contributed.