Brad Underwood Brings Toughness and “Swagger” to OSU Program

Arguably the most well-known player for Brad Underwood during his head coaching tenure at Stephen F. Austin was Thomas Walkup, the senior phenom who lit up March Madness with his ungroomed beard and a long enough tongue that could get him an interview with Kiss.

Walkup is preparing for the NBA summer league where he will play for Golden State, and he dropped by Stillwater this week for some training and talked about what Underwood will bring to OSU.

“It’s really hard to play for a guy when you don’t know him well off the court,” Walkup said in an interview with the OSU athletics department. “I knew him off the court, he took time to get to know all of us off the court and encouraged us to come and talk to him in his office anytime. That made it really easy on the court — that’s why we won so many games. Just the mindset that him and his coaching staff bring, it’s toughness. You can beat anyone in March because you’re so tough, so well conditioned. Not only physically, but you have the “it” factor, that swagger that Coach Underwood brings.”

There’s no doubt Underwood will bring a new level of toughness – that “swagger” as Walkup called it – that should separate the team as it faces the stretch. With Travis Ford coached teams, it seemed fairly typical to see the overall trajectory of the season slowly decline and typically limp towards March, which could be attributed to injury, illness, poor play or poor coaching. But with a level of both mental and physical toughness that the coaching staff will bring and has proven can implement successfully, perhaps the trajectory, not just for the season, but for the program, will continue to point upwards in Underwood’s first season as head coach.

Future pro & @SFA_MBB star @twalkup23 was in Stilly to workout at GIA. What did he have to say about @OSUCoachBrad?https://t.co/2J7LcxyBnM

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) June 30, 2016