Illinois’ Brad Underwood on Recruiting: ‘It’s Getting to be a Comedy’
Across the country, the talks in coaching circles have been strikingly similar this fall: nobody knows what they’re doing.
With rev share and the NIL clearinghouse platform now in play, the rules for college basketball recruiting have become unclear. Coaches don’t really know how much money they have to spend, how they can spend it or how many players they’ll be retaining come April. The talk of a potential “5 in 5” rule, where players would have an additional season of eligibility to play with, has only added to the chaos.
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood is fed up.
“If we’re going to (five years of eligibility), let’s get to it,” Underwood said to the media on Thursday. “I’m absolutely sick and tired of not having any rules or guidelines of what to do. This is getting to be a comedy as to how to do things, what it means.”
Underwood said having the 5 in 5 rule would probably be a good thing to help reduce waivers and court cases, as well as give clarity. But if the NCAA is going to do it, make it happen now, so programs know how to recruit.
“Recruiting is completely different now than it’s ever been because of the rev share and it’s based on how many guys you could possibly have back,” Underwood said. “It changes us greatly. We might lose one player. Ben [Humrichous] would be the only one we lose if 5 in 5 goes. And so you have to save your rev share. Your distribution becomes very different. Recruiting high level players becomes very different. So all the scouting stuff and stars and all of that stuff means nothing, based on how many guys you have back.”
Underwood also mentioned nowadays schools are building their rosters in the spring, a complete flip in the calendar from year’s past. September is usually one of Illinois busiest months for recruiting, but this year it’s been one of the quietest because Underwood doesn’t know how to go about his business.
“It’s all about the spring,” Underwood said. “The calendar is off. It’s messed up. It makes no sense. We’re just in a spiral that we need some help with.”
Only eight prospects in the top 50 of the 2026 class have decided on a school at this point. Because of the new rules, most of them will likely have to find a home in the spring, if there are even still spots left.
“We just need some help,” Underwood said. “We need some guidelines. We need some parameters and guardrails with which to recruit… We’re recruiting, but we’re not recruiting.”
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