It has been an incredibly busy few weeks in recruitment of Zavier Zens. This all ended on Friday when he announced his commitment. Zens, the 6’7” small forward won Wisconsin Mr. Basketball, Gatorade Player of the Year for Wisconsin, as well to three straight state championships with Wisconsin Lutheran. In his senior year, he averaged 23.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in an undefeated season.

This hectic few weeks of recruitment started when Zens announced that he was opening his recruitment from Northern Iowa at the end of March. This move followed former Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson taking the same position at Utah State. Zens had initially committed to the Missouri Valley Conference school back in July of last year.

Following Zens opening his recruitment, there were three schools that he focused on. He made official visits to Utah State first, then Illinois, and finally Wisconsin. Quickly following these three visits, Zens announced his commitment to Illinois.

While many college programs have been fully focused on the portal in April, this marks the second commitment coming from the high school ranks recently for Illinois. They also landed a high school commitment this month from Quentin Coleman, a 6’4” guard who was Gatorade Player of the Year in Missouri. Coleman is another player who was previously committed to another school in Wake Forest. Their 2026 recruitment class also includes guard Lucas Morillo, guard Ethan Brown, and forward Landon Davis. From the transfer portal, they have also landed a commitment from guard Stefan Vaaks.