Underwood began his basketball career as a standout high school and college player. The Kansas native stayed in-state to ball for Kansas State before beginning his coaching career with a series of assistant and head coaching positions at several community colleges before moving on to bigger schools and opportunities. Though it's not known exactly how much Underwood cumulatively made coaching Texas's Stephen F. Austin State, we do know (per ESPN) he signed a new contract after his first winning season, a deal that would "nearly double" his salary to $400,000.
Underwood was soon poached by Oklahoma State, where Bleacher Report says he was contracted to be paid $6.3 million over five years, though he only coached one season there. You get the idea, though; Underwood's salary just kept going nowhere but up. With his jump to Illinois, Underwood initially raked in a just-shy-of $3 million base salary, according to Peoria's Journal Star newspaper, but following the team's terrific performance, he received a contract extension that bumped his base up to $3.4 million. If Underwood completes his contract, his pay is expected to rise to $4 million, following annual increases.
According to USA Today, Underwood currently sits at number 12 in the list of top-paid coaches (John Calipari is currently on top with a little over $8 million). If the team does as well in the NCAA Tournament as many expect, Underwood might soon crack the top 10 much sooner rather than later.
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