And while it’s college football season, college basketball season never goes away in Urbana-Champaign.
Illinois head basketball coach Brad Underwood is busy recruiting a 7-foot center from China.
Sinan Huan, a four-star prospect.
National 247 Sports scouts wrote Huan
is excellent shot blocker, recording nearly three per game. Overall, he shot 58%, showcasing good touch in the post, and in videos, capable of dunks. He’s shown a pulse from outside as a big man, shooting 29% from the three-point line. It’s not a great number — current Illini center Tomislav Ivisic made 34% of his threes this past season — but he’s capable.
But needs to get bigger and become a better rebounder, said experts.
So he’s more like Coleman Hawkins than a Kofi Cockburn.
“I’m trying to work for like three divisional basketball player. So trying to get like, shooting better, ball handling better, and also trying to improve,” Suan told me in an interview. I watched Illinois; practice like earlier today. I feel like it’s pretty impressive. A big group of students there outside, everyone was, like, cheering, yelling, and, like, the practice environment was great.”
According to a 247 report, it appears that Purdue is the front runner to land the 4-star from China. But Underwood and the Illinois has a really good sales pitch after developing and bulking up players like Ivisic and Cockburn.
Illinois in 2025-2026 is projected to be a top Big Ten squad after reloading with several high-level European professionals and transfers. And bringing back 43% of last year’s scoring.
Last year, Illinois won 22 games and made its fifth straight NCAA Tournament with returners Ivisic and guard Kylan Boswell.
Illinois did lose its top two players, Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley, both first round NBA draft selections.
Currently, Illinois’ recruiting class is top-12 after landing a pair of three stars Ethan Brown and Landon Davis.