Fighting Illini soak in the moment in Indianapolis as they prepare for Final Four matchup vs. Connecticut
The Fighting Illini hit the court for their first practice on Thursday ahead of this weekend's Final Four matchup against Connecticut.
Illinois and the three other teams in the Final Four – Connecticut, Michigan, and Arizona – had closed practices on Thursday in Indianapolis and then went through their various media obligations and video sessions for Saturday's semifinals in the NCAA Tournament.
The wide-eyed Illinois players were like kids on Christmas when they got their first look at Lucas Oil Stadium, the massive indoor football arena where they'll take on the Connecticut Huskies, and then hopefully claim the program's first national championship on Monday.
"All of us, we were like, 'Holy crap." Like, this is huge. It's going to be insane, but we started soaking it in as practice started, and we had a great practice today. So we felt like we belonged here," guard Andrej Stojakovic said.
Seeing their faces plastered in and around their orange and blue locker room was a pinch-me moment for the Illini, who also had Final Four swag waiting for them at the team hotel. As surreal as this exclusive experience is, the Illini are trying to take it all in while staying focused on the task at hand.
"It is nice to get a couple days to just enjoy it, experience it, but at the end of the day we came here to win basketball games, and for all of us, this is great distractions in a good way, but nothing is going to distract us from what we came here to take care of business," guard Kylan Boswell said.
Guard Keaton Wagler joked that he hopes he can take some of the Final Four decorations with his face on them home with him.
"You've got to take this all in, but we can't lose focus on the goal," he said.
Head coach Brad Underwood said it was fun to see his players' smiling faces after all the hard work they put in to get to the Final Four.
"But, yeah, it helps having a day today and you kind of knock it all out and get a feel for it, and understanding that it is a little bit different, but it's still business as usual," he said.
The Final Four is often described as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Illinois is playing in the Final Four for the first time in 2005, but the Huskies are making their third Final Four appearance in four years, and won back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024.
The Illini can end Connecticut's ridiculous run on Saturday by avenging their November loss at Madison Square Garden.