Brad Underwood pulls up to Illinois' Week 3 matchup with No. 8 C in the nation

This weekend, the focus of the Fighting Illini was on the football team as it looked to improve to 2-0 and further secure its top-10 ranking.

However, basketball head coach Brad Underwood made sure nobody forgot that Illinois is a basketball school.

Underwood arrived at Illinois's Week 3 matchup against Western Michigan with four-star prospect Sinan Huan, who is the No. 8 center in the class of 2026, to show the highly coveted recruit what life is like when your school is dominant in all sports, not just football or basketball.

Huan has also received offers from powerhouse programs such as Florida (yes, the defending National Champions), Alabama, Purdue, Creighton, and more. Yet, the only sideline he was standing on this Saturday was that of the Fighting Illini.

So far, Underwood has already landed two recruits from the upcoming class, including three-star combo guard Ethan Brown and three-star power forward Landon Davis. The addition of a four-star prospect like Huan could be exactly what Illinois needs for its class to jump into the top 10.

Huan's trip to Champaign was just his second visit of the fall, following a trip to visit the Purdue Boilermakers just one week earlier.

As of now, the Fighting Illini's class of 2026 ranks 12th in the nation, a massive step up from their class of 2025, which ranked 44th in the country.

Beyond the recent recruiting moves surrounding high school prospects, Underwood has done a lot of great work in the transfer portal. This past offseason, the Illinois head coach landed four-star small forward Andrej Stojakovic from Cal and four-star center Zvonimir Ivisic from Arkansas, adding some much-needed height and experience for his depth chart.

Meanwhile, Illinois's class of 2025 high school prospects featured four-star shooting guard Brandon Lee, four-star shooting guard Keaton Wagler, four-star power forward David Mirkovic, and four-star point guard Mihailo Petrovic.