‘No one loves Luke Goode more than I do’: Illinois head coach Brad Underwood shares special words on Indiana basketball wing

Indiana basketball is set for very important game tonight at Assembly Hall with the Hoosiers hosting No. 19 Illinois. Indiana is coming off of a very embarrassing 85-60 loss on the road to Iowa this past Saturday.

While this game is very important on a bigger scale, this is also an important game to one particular player, Indiana basketball senior wing Luke Goode, who played his first three years of his college career at Illinois.

This will be the first and only time in the regular season that Goode will have a chance to play his former team. During his three years at Illinois, he was a 38.8 percent three-point shooter. His junior season, he led Illinois in three-point percentage and was second in made 3s while averaging 5.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and shooting 38.9 percent from three in 20.1 minutes per game.

Related: Status of Illinois star guard Kasparas Jakucionis unclear heading into matchup with IU basketball

Before joining the Hoosiers this past offseason when he entered the transfer portal, Goode was a part of multiple Big Ten championships and NCAA Tournament appearances during his time with the Fighting Illini. With that, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood has nothing but great things to say about his former sharpshooter.

“No one loves Luke Goode more than I do,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said when previewing the Indiana basketball matchup. “Luke was a special part of this program and will always be a special part of this program.”

“There was no one any more coachable. There was no one who made any more improvement. He was a part of two championships. He was a part of three NCAA Tournaments, and integral parts of them. He’s a guy who broke his foot and was starting his sophomore year, breaks his foot and rehabs and recovers and does everything he could do to come back and help his team.”

“The thing about Luke is not only a really good player but even a better teammate. Guys make decisions for various reasons and whatever that is, but Luke is always one of my guys. I’ll always look at him that way. He graduated from the Gies College of Business in three years, outstanding student, outstanding person, outstanding family. It will look different seeing him run up and down. He’ll probably make a few balls. Luke’s still an Illini for me.”

So far this season, Goode is averaging 7.1 points per game for Indiana basketball while shooting 37.3 percent from three. He has seen his role increase over the past few games with him being inserted into the starting lineup with junior power forward Malik Reneau out with injury.

Tipoff for Indiana vs Illinois is set for 7 PM ET on Peacock tonight.

You can watch full clip below.

#illini Brad Underwood on facing Luke Goode, who’s now on the Indiana Hoosiers

“Nobody loves Luke Goode more than I do. He was a really good player but an even better teammate at Illinois”

“Guys make decisions for various reasons, he’s still an Illini to me.”

Praised Goode for… pic.twitter.com/j0zsoopyZz

— Carson Gourdie (@GourdieReport) January 13, 2025

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