Illinois basketball is ranked third nationally in the Top 25 AP Poll behind Florida and Duke, giving coach Brad Underwood and his team plenty of motivation to climb higher heading into the 2026-27 season.

The Fighting Illini have become one of the nation's most progressive offensive teams with Underwood at the helm, excelling in one surprising area that he explained recently: rebounding missed three-pointers. 

Underwood gave a talk about the Illini's philosophy at the Larry Shyatt Clinic in Charlotte, N.C. earlier this year, with footage surfacing recently of Underwood's detailed explanation of his team's strategy. He explained why he changed Illinois' offensive philosophy in comments shared on social media, and how it has benefited his team. 

Underwood said that the Illini "changed a few years ago" in terms of their rebounding rules to ensure the basket stays protected on runout attempts, and to maximize second-chance opportunities.  

"We changed a few years ago our rebounding philosophy, okay, a deal called opposite and inside, we chart our misses every year...Between 70 and 75 percent of them go to the middle or opposite. So we flood opposite," Underwood explained, describing his time with former Cincinnati legend Bob Huggins. 

"Well I was the traditional, send your point guard back, your two back, and three, four and five go (crash the boards). I thought, God, we're settin' ball screens, and our point guards are under the basket, and our bigs are poppin'.

"So, our rules are very simple. If you're above the top of the key, you're back. That's helped us a lot because it's usually our five-men. When we shoot a three, we were number one in the country (last) year in rebounding missed threes, 47% of our shots last year were threes, so we shot threes, we got 43% of our misses back," Underwood continued, saying that players who shoot threes have to run back on defense. 

"Other four guys crash," Underwood added about the Illini's strategy. "Only rule we have is if you're in the corners, you can't run baseline, you've gotta run middle."

Underwood added that the Illini do 4-6 drills per day on either defensive or offensive rebounding, which has had the net effect of turning his team's guards and wings into strong rebounders. 

The Fighting Illini's rebounding figures to be strong in 2026-27 with five of the team's top eight rebounders returning from last year's Final Four run. 

Its top rebounder, David Mirkovic, has garnered preseason All-Big Ten and All-America hype coming off of a freshman season that saw him haul down eight rebounds per game to lead the Fighting Illini. 

Center Tomislav Ivisic finished last season with 5.6 rebounds per game, a number he has a strong chance to top in 2026-27 as he continues to mature physically. 

Top five NBA Draft pick Keaton Wagler ranked third on last year's team with 5.1 rebounds per game, statistics that could go to possible backcourt starters Stefan Vaaks and/or Quentin Coleman this season as Underwood hopes to continue to foster a well-rounded rebounding team from the backcourt to the front court.

The Fighting Illini's unique, free-flowing offensive system has continued to evolve under Underwood, and this year could be his best iteration yet. Illinois is big, talented, and skilled across the board, with hopes for another best-in-class rebounding season in a Big Ten full of talented rebounding teams.