Illinois Basketball hires former South Florida coach Orlando Antigua as an assistant

Brad Underwood has added a second member to his new coaching staff, and it looks to be a big development for Illinois basketball’s future recruiting efforts.

According to a source, former South Florida head coach Orlando Antigua is poised to join the Fighting Illini after reaching a contract agreement Wednesday.

Antigua, 44, was fired by USF in January after a lackluster two and a half seasons that featured a 23-55 overall record. The Bulls are also currently under a NCAA investigation into alleged academic fraud.

More importantly for Illinois, though, Antigua was a top assistant under John Calipari at Memphis and Kentucky from 2008-14. As a result, he played a key role in the recruitments of players like Anthony Davis, John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Nerlens Noel, Terrence Jones, and Trey Lyles.

Antigua played collegiately at Pittsburgh from 1991-95. His first coaching opportunity came with the Panthers in 2004, and he proceeded to work for five seasons on Jamie Dixon’s staff.

Antigua, a native of the Dominican Republic, also coached the country’s national team from 2013-15.