‘The basketball gods have a funny sense of humor.’ Orlando Antigua prepares to face UK
READ MORE
Preview: Kentucky vs. Illinois in NCAA Tournament
Click below to read more coverage from the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com ahead of Kentucky’s men’s NCAA Tournament game against Illinois in Milwaukee on Sunday.
Expand All
When the John Calipari coaching era at Kentucky came to an abrupt end last spring, Orlando Antigua was collateral damage.
At the time, Antigua, 51, and his wife, Dana, were not looking to leave the Bluegrass. They had just built a new house in Lexington.
Antigua had returned to Kentucky in 2021 for a second stint as a UK assistant under Calipari. Known as a formidable recruiter and an able developer of big men, Antigua worked with Oscar Tshiebwe during the UK star’s national player of the year campaign in 2021-22.
Yet, with Calipari departing Kentucky to become boss Hog at Arkansas, Antigua now found himself in career limbo.
“There was a little bit of a song and dance going on there for for a few weeks, a few days,” Antigua said Saturday at the Fiserv Forum. “And that’s all I’ll share.”
Ultimately, another of Antigua’s former bosses, Illinois coach Brad Underwood, brought him back on board as the Fighting Illini associate head coach.
“That’s the industry we live in,” Antigua said. “... You’ve got to make adjustments and, at times, make some tough decisions.”
In the kind of twist that gives March Madness so much of its flavor, Antigua’s new team and his former one will meet Sunday with a berth in the men’s NCAA Tournament round of 16 at stake.
When Midwest Region No. 3 seed Kentucky (23-11) and No. 6 seed Illinois (22-12) face off around 5:15 p.m. (EDT), Antigua will be on the Fighting Illini bench.
A former University of Pittsburgh men’s hoops star as a player, Antigua’s recent career movements have featured a game of coaching musical chairs between Kentucky and Illinois.
Antigua worked at UK under Calipari from 2009-14, before departing to become head coach at South Florida. When the USF job ended in 2016, Underwood hired Antigua as an aide at Illinois in 2017. Four years later, Calipari brought Antigua back to UK.
When Antigua found himself in the job market last spring, Underwood said it was an easy call for him to bring his former assistant back.
“I love ‘O,’” Underwood said Saturday. “... He’s great for me. I don’t know if you want to call it a weakness or a strength — it’s your choice — but sometimes I coach the glass half empty. ‘O’ is always half full. And that’s really good for me.”
The Illinois head man says there is another benefit to having Antigua on staff.
“He’s a magnet for people,” Underwood said. “He’s a tremendous communicator. I put tremendous value in that. And one of the other things that doesn’t go lightly with me, he makes me laugh. He’s got a way about him. He’s always in a good mood.”
The biggest immediate contribution Antigua made to Illinois after his re-arrival came when Underwood communicated the desire to add a skilled center who would allow the Fighting Illini to deploy a “five out” offensive approach.
“And I said, ‘I know a guy,’” Antigua said Saturday, laughing.
That turned out to be 7-foot-1, 255-pound Tomislav Ivisic, the younger brother — by four minutes — of former Kentucky and current Arkansas big man Zvonimir Ivisic.
Through recruiting and then coaching Zvonimir Ivisic last season at UK, Antigua had gotten to know his brother, too.
Tomislav Ivisic has been a standout this season for Illinois, averaging 12.8 points and 7.7 rebounds.
The Illinois center says Antigua was “mostly” the reason he chose the Fighting Illini. “He trusted me. I trusted him,” Ivisic said.
As the season has played out, Antigua says he has kept tabs on Kentucky during Mark Pope’s first year as Wildcats coach.
“What Mark has done at Kentucky has been exceptional,” Antigua says. “He got some great, experienced, guys that, obviously, barring injuries, have been really, really good.”
The only players Antigua worked with last year who will be on the UK bench for Sunday’s game are walk-ons Walker Horn and Grant Darbyshire.
“Personable,” Horn says of his recollection of Antigua. “He was awesome to be around. I really enjoyed it.”
Among the current Kentucky scholarship players, Antigua says super-senior wing Koby Brea is the one with whom he is most familiar.
“I’ve known Koby since he was, probably, 6, 7 years old. His dad and I competed against each other down in the Dominican,” says Antigua, a Dominican Republic native.
Even as he works at Illinois, Antigua has not cut his ties to Lexington. His family has retained the new house they built.
“I still live there,” Antigua says of Lexington. “I get back frequently. I travel back and forth (to the University of Illinois in Champaign). It’s an easy trip.”
Antigua notes that his daughter, Olivia, is a UK graduate. “She still watches every (Wildcats) game,” Antigua said.
Even though the UK program has had an almost total personnel turnover from the one Antigua was part of just a season ago, the former Kentucky assistant allows it will be a little weird to face the Wildcats on Sunday with so much at stake.
“The basketball gods have a funny sense of humor,” Orlando Antigua says.
This story was originally published March 22, 2025 at 7:51 PM.
