Podziemski uses Illinois season as motivation in viral post

Whether you’re of the mindset that Brad Underwood should have played Brandin Podziemski more or not, you can’t disagree with Podz’s viral Christmas Eve post.

“2 years ago at this time I had 17 DNP and only played garbage time, 1 year ago at this time I wasn’t on any draft boards, 5 months ago all I heard was that I was bust. Started the year out of the rotation and now I’m starting for the best franchise in the NBA!”

Podz isn’t wrong — he only appeared in 16 games with the Illini during the 2021-22 season, averaging just four minutes per outing and a little more than one point a game.

Whether Underwood never saw…