Illinois Year in Review | Top coaches

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It was a mixed bag in terms of success across the board for Illinois the past 12 months. Our Scott Richey spotlights the 10 coaches who had the most:

1. Brad Underwood | Men’s basketball

The one item missing from Underwood’s résumé — and his full-scale rebuild of the Illinois basketball program — was a sustained NCAA tournament run. After a series of early exits, including a first-round loss in 2023, the Illini reached the Elite Eight this past March before losing to eventual national champions Connecticut. A fifth straight season with at least 20 wins put Underwood in elite company as Illinois coach. Only Hall of Famer Lou Henson had a similar run with nine straight seasons of at least 20 wins from 1982 through 1991.

2. Petros Kyprianou | Track and field

Kyprianou was facing a considerable rebuild when he took the Illinois job in July 2022. Both Illini track teams had stumbled to the bottom of the Big Ten. Kyprianou, who led Georgia to a pair of national titles, had a plan. There was no need to try and be good at everything. At least right away. What he called a “money-ball” approach meant investing in the jumping events and the heptathlon and decathlon. It’s worked. The Illinois women won the Big Ten indoor championship with several long jumpers, high jumpers and pole vaulters leading the way.

3. Mike Small | Men’s golf

Death. Taxes. Illinois men’s golf being among the top teams in the country. Small has built the Illini into a legitimate blue-blood program, which is no small feat given the geographic disadvantages they face. You know, winter. Something other powerhouses don’t have to deal with as much. Illinois was, again, at its best late in the season. Despite seeing their streak of Big Ten titles snapped, the Illini won an NCAA regional and finished first in stroke play at the NCAA championship before match play proved to be a familiar roadblock in a quarterfinal loss to Georgia Tech.

4. Dan Hartleb | Baseball

Illinois basically ran it back this spring after going 25-27 during the 2023 season, while finishing .500 and tying for seventh in the Big Ten. Through 15 games, it looked like not much had changed. The Illini struggled early in nonconference action and had a 5-10 record, but Hartleb managed to push the right buttons to engineer a dramatic turnaround. Illinois won 28 of its final 37 games to close out the regular season with the program’s first Big Ten title since 2015 and won this year’s outright after sweeping Purdue in the final weekend series of conference play.

5. Daniel Ribeiro | Men’s gymnastics

Ribeiro had a tough act to follow when he replaced Justin Spring as Illinois coach two years ago. The move from associate head coach to head coach, though, has been fairly seamless for the former two-time national pommel horse champion for the Illini. Ribeiro has kept his alma mater relevant in the competitive Big Ten, had four conference champions this season and added to the lengthy list of national champions to suit up in orange and blue. Tate Costa’s high bar title gives Ribeiro three NCAA champions in his first two seasons.

6. Shauna Green | Women’s basketball

Green’s first season in Champaign breathed new life into the Illinois women’s basketball program. That success also generated loftier expectations for the Illini than they’d had in decades. Expectations that weren’t really met through most of the season with a slide back into the bottom half of the Big Ten, including a Thursday exit at the Big Ten tournament. Then the chance to play in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament came, and Green got the trajectory of her program back on track with five wins and its first-ever postseason tournament title.

7. Brad Dancer | Men’s tennis

Steady is a way to describe Dancer’s lengthy tenure at Illinois. This season might not have featured as much success — graded on Big Ten and NCAA tournament wins — as some of Dancer’s best, but the Illini were still ranked among the best in the country at one point this spring. Four nonconference wins against ranked opponents with Illinois defeating Duke, North Carolina (twice) and Baylor propelled the Illini into Big Ten play, where Illinois finished fourth before a disappointing early exit in the conference tournament and a Round of 32 loss in the NCAA tournament.

8. Evan Clark | Women’s tennis

Clark further cemented himself as one of the top coaches in program history with this season’s 17-10 record, a tie for fourth in the Big Ten standings and another trip to the NCAA tournament. The 17 wins were the third most in Clark’s tenure in Champaign-Urbana and third season of his to wind up in the top 10 in program history for single-season victories. The Illini also kept up their 16-tournament streak of reaching the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament, and their NCAA tournament appearance was their second straight and 15th in program history.

9. Bret Bielema | Football

Bielema has won more Big Ten games in three seasons than his predecessor, Lovie Smith, did in five seasons, but finishing 5-7 last fall and missing out on a bowl game was still a disappointment given the level of expectations. Illinois hyped the 2023 season to its fan base only for an incomplete pass on a two-point conversion in the regular-season finale against Northwestern take away a chance at a second straight bowl game. The crux of last year’s disappointment, though, was a blowout loss at Purdue and a home loss to Nebraska the following week.

10. Nadalie Walsh | Women’s gymnastics

Illinois’ 2024 schedule featured showdowns with 14 ranked teams. A challenging slate. Beating three of them — future Big Ten rivals Washington, Penn State and Arizona — were scattered highlights throughout Walsh’s seventh season leading the Illini. Seven seasons where the Illini qualified for the NCAA regional to extend the program’s streak to 20 consecutive years. Walsh has made an impact away from the competition arena, as well, spearheading a mental wellness initiative that’s reached the campus, community and young gymnasts across the country.