Zavier Zens' Visit Signals Illinois May Not Be Done With 2026 Recruiting

But then Illinois went and scheduled a visit with 2026 three-star prospect Zavier Zens – which means one thing: Underwood loves what he has seen from Zens, a Wisconsin native.

Listed as a 6-foot-7 small forward, Zens has a powerful 215-pound frame, along with – you guessed it – an automatic long-distance jumper. Almost without fail, Illinois targets tend to have two key traits: positional size and shooting. Zens ticks both those boxes.

Zens has some burst, both laterally and vertically, but he is hardly a jump-out-of-the-gym athlete. He uses his size and length to get to the basket and finish at a solid rate, but he translates to the college level as a sharpshooter from deep while his downhill ability will be just supplemental.

Defensively, his size and strength, along with the solid athleticism, speak to a high floor (although most first-year players tend to face some hurdles early in the season on that end, regardless). 

Arguably, the Illini don’t have a true wing in the class of 2026 – Lucas Morillo is a Swiss Army Knife, while Landon Davis is more of a forward – meaning Zens could slot in nicely there. Then again, if Andrej Stojakovic elects to stick around (which appears to be the likely scenario), not to mention Jake Davis, it would be difficult to envision Zens landing in the rotation in Year 1. Still, he could be a redshirt candidate viewed as a long-term, high-floor player.

Illinois' competition for Zavier Zens

A former Northern Iowa commit, Zens backed off his pledge to the Panthers in late March following the departure of its head coach, Ben Jacobson, who has since accepted the head position at Utah State. (Illinois offered days after Zens' de-commitment.)

Almost immediately, Zens picked up an offer from Utah State, and he is set to visit the program on April 10. He then has visits scheduled to Illinois on April 12 and Wisconsin on April 13, all per Mark Miller of Prep Hoops (reposted by Zens himself on X).