Illinois Reaches Out to Veteran Sharpshooter Currently in Transfer Portal

The Illini have contacted Brendan Hausen, a 39.1-percent career three-point shooter from Kansas State

Mar 11, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas State Wildcats guard Brendan Hausen (11) shoots the ball over Arizona State Sun Devils guard Amier Ali (5) during the first half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Still in the market for high-level shooters, Illinois coach Brad Underwood and his staff have reached out to Kansas State transfer Brendan Hausen, according to Joe Tipton of On3 Sports.

Kansas State transfer guard Brendan Hausen is receiving interest from the following schools, per his agency One Motive Sports:

Gonzaga
Virginia
Kansas
Illinois
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Ole Miss
Cincinnati
Missouri
Iowa
Oklahoma
Texas
Texas A&M
LSU
SMU
DePaul
Maryland… https://t.co/arqDEZThLu

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 9, 2025

A 10.9 points-per-game scorer, Hausen was a stellar scoring option and an excellent three-point shooter for Kansas State last season, knocking down 2.7 triples per game at a 38.8 percent clip.

Originally a four-star high school recruit in the class of 2022, Hausen committed to Villanova and spent his first two seasons with the Wildcats, playing limited minutes as a freshman and sophomore. A year ago, he entered the transfer portal and wound up at Kansas State, where he put together a solid junior season.

Illinois, coming off a season in which it launched 30.1 three-pointers per game (fourth in the country), seems dead set on continuing to build its offensive scheme around the three-point line, as Underwood and his staff have primarily been targeting sharpshooters in the portal these past few weeks.

Despite missing out on high-priority targets Josh Dix (committed to Creighton) and Jaylin Sellers (Providence), the Illini still have time to land a perimeter threat who can serve as a go-to shooter in 2025-26. It appears that Hausen is viewed as one of those options.

To land him, however, Illinois will be forced to beat out 20 other programs, including Kansas, Gonzaga and Tennessee. The offseason work continues.

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