in the fall of 1947, sunderlage enrolled at the university of illinois and was a member of the freshman basketball team. in his sophomore year he was the starting point guard of the 1948-49 fighting illini team that finished first in the big nine with a 21-4 record and advanced to the ncaa tournament. illinois would defeat yale to earn a berth in the final four (only eight teams played in the tournament back then), but would lose to eventual national champion kentucky, 76–47. they would defeat oregon state in the third place game, however. this was illinois’ first 20-game winning team since 1908 which equaled a final ap ranking of no. 4 in the nation.