Tyler Underwood and Kwa Jones shared the basketball court as Nacogdoches Dragons. Now they will be on the sideline together Saturday when the University of Illinois takes the floor against UConn in the NCAA Men’s Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The former Dragons are on the men’s basketball staff at Illinois, which is led by Tyler’s father, former Stephen F. Austin State University head coach Brad Underwood. Tyler is a member of the NHS Class of 2015; Jones is a member of the Class of 2014.
Both players were first team all-district for the Dragons in 2014. Underwood returned for his senior year the following season, but that campaign was cut short due to an injury.
Following graduation Underwood joined the Lumberjacks while his dad was still coach at SFA, followed him on to Oklahoma State and then Illinois. He was a part of tournament teams at SFA (2016, when the Lumberjacks upset West Virginia in the first round of the NCAA tournament), Oklahoma State (2017) and at Illinois (2021).
Jones is in his third year following a return to the Illinois staff and currently serves as director of operations and recruiting. After graduating from NHS, Jones earned his degree from the University of Houston where he was an on-court student manager for the Cougars’ basketball team.
Jones spent two years on Underwood’s Illini staff as a graduate manager in 2020 and 2021. Following a video coaching associate role with the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, Jones spent a season in Nacogdoches as director of operations at SFA for the men’s basketball team before returning to Illinois before the 2023-24 season.
The Illini, seeded third in the South Region, beat Big 10 rival Iowa Saturday in Houston to reach the Final Four. Illinois now faces UConn, the two-seed from the East Region. The Huskies reached the national semifinals Sunday with a stunning last second basket to beat Duke. Saturday’s game tips off at 5:09 p.m.
Photo credit: Illinois Athletics