Illinois continued dancing on. The Illini took a 71-59 comeback victory over Iowa to move on to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
As players celebrated on the court, Keaton Wagler, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, spoke about what got them to this point with Andy Katz of The Big Ten Network.
“People might not have believed in us, but we stuck together—we believed in ourselves,” Wagler said.
Belief has been a major factor in this run. Belief in head coach Brad Underwood may not have always been there. He led Stephen F. Austin to the NCAA Tournament in his only three years there, but ultimately it was found that academic eligibility rules were bypassed, and the last two runs were vacated. He would then coach one season at Oklahoma State before heading to Illinois. They did not finish with a winning record in his first two seasons, but since then, Underwood has turned it around. He spoke after the game about belief, according to Erik Hall of The Telegraph.
“Yeah, it's not just me. It's so many people that have helped along the way. And you believe in something so much that it drives me every single day to want to make it happen,” Underwood said. “One of the most fulfilling moments personally that I just had was standing on the ladder with the net, and then seeing our fans and being able to just — that wasn't about me. That was about our fans, and that was about what's probably going on in Champaign right now, because that's what you believe this to be, and you know it is.”
Now, they await the winner of Duke against UConn and will face that winner on April 4 in the Final Four.
