So let's dive into that... Morgan Park and Whitney Young -- two premier programs with two of the premier players in the state (
Adam Miller and
DJ Steward) -- began their seasons on Nov. 24 at the Jordan Brand Invitational in Chicago.
Meanwhile, Illinois had just returned from three games in Maui and had a game at home on Nov. 25 against Mississippi Valley State... As part of a stretch of seven games in 17 days with six of them being away from home.
Miller and Steward played at the Chicago Elite Classic on Dec. 1. Underwood and his staff were not in attendance. They were in Lincoln preparing to play Nebraska -- one of the league's tougher opponents -- the next day.
There was the Team Rose Shootout on Dec. 8 and Dec. 9. The Illini hosted UNLV on Dec. 8. It's also worth noting that no player at the shootout had an Illinois offer, which frankly, you could point to as one of Chicago's issues. Not Illinois'.