Are you serious? Yes, you have scoreboard this year, but Groce was fired, UofI didn't go to the dance, and Collins has NU on an upward momentum. Let's not pretend for a moment that you would rather have Underwood (or Groce) over Collins or that the state of the storied Illini program today is healthier than NU's. Perhaps, Underwood will get you to the promised land and one day will get them to the pinnacle, but let's not pretend that UofI wouldn't love to be in NU's position from a program standpoint at this particular point in time.
If not, then you're a blind homer.
I think CC is the perfect fit for NU, not sure he'd be right for a big state school that doesn't have the same focus on academics or development of young men into future contributors to society as NU's Three Amigos are all about... and championships. Think of the kind of young men that are choosing to come to NU, braving the academic challenges, underwhelming social scene, cold winters, and no "basket weaving" programs to hide in. They know they're going to have to work when they sign on the line for NU. That's a special breed, and molding and motivating them into a great basketball team takes a certain kind of leader: CC.
Underwood is a different type altogether. He's the "red-faced" prototype of coach. With how UoI sees itself and the type of recruits they expect to get, it's about getting Primadonna, entitled millennials with five star rankings that love the "hat dance", drama, look-at-me, woo me to learn what it means to become a teammate, a hard worker, setting aside ego and doing what it takes to make the team better. And hopefully staying out of off-court troubles.
CC and Underwood will be working with very different raw materials as they strive to achieve the same goal in terms of basketball success: championships. It's going to be very fun to see how both programs develop and which model ultimately finds more success.
All that said, I still hope UoI sucks.
Rivalry baby!
