Brad Underwood has announced the hiring of Evansville’s Geoff Alexander as Assistant to the Head Coach. Alexander will be replacing Stephen Gentry, who left the Fighting Illini in early June for a spot on Mark Few’s support staff at Gonzaga.
Alexander spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach at Evansville. Over that span, the program recorded three 20-plus win seasons, including an appearance in the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title game. In all, Alexander has 17 years of coaching experience.
Welcome the newest member of the #Illini family, Geoff Alexander, who has been named Assistant to the Head Coach.https://t.co/B0aPsBvfmN
— Illini Basketball (@IlliniMBB) July 7, 2017
Alexander has crossed paths with Underwood before, with the the first time having occurred during his playing days at Western Illinois from 1998-2000. When Underwood took over at Daytona State College, he proceeded to hire Alexander and he served three seasons from 2003-06.
Statement from Brad Underwood
We're excited to have Geoff joining the Illinois basketball program. He and I have a long history together dating back to our days at Western Illinois and Daytona Beach. He has great familiarity with me and our system, and being from Lincoln and playing and recruiting this state, he has connections with coaches and programs throughout Illinois.
Most importantly, Geoff is a great basketball mind. He spent the last five years at Evansville with Marty Simmons, who is a tremendous offensive basketball coach. So I'm excited to get to explore some of the things he picked up during his time there. Geoff is a student of the game at all levels, including the NBA, and will push the envelope in terms of challenging our staff with fresh ideas and perspective.