Rising sophomore tight end Jack Brown from St. Peters (MO) Francis Howell Central camped at Illinois on Saturday hoping to pick up an offer, and he walked away with the offer from the Fighting Illini in hand.

Brown, one of the top 2027 tight ends in the Midwest, talks about his new Big Ten offer and more in this update from Orange and Blue News.

*****

CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | State

*****

Illinois is the first Big Ten offer from Brown, who also holds an offer from Houston and is getting heavy interest from a growing list of others.

"This is a great offer for me personally just because I’ve been an Illinois fan my entire life," Brown said "Getting an offer to play football there is a dream come true."

Tight ends coach Robbie Discher had been tracking Brown since his freshman season last fall. Brown's impressive performance on Saturday, particularly during the one-on-ones, stood out.

"I think the Illinois staff saw my size, speed and ball skills to be my best points of my game," Brown said.

Discher took Brown to meet head coach Bielema in his office at the Smith Football Performance Center, and the head coach gave him the good news.

Look for Brown to be a top target for Discher over the next couple of years.

"The relationship with coach Discher is great," Brown said. "He wants me to call him on a regular basis just to stay in touch and keep building on the relationship".

Brown now holds offers from Illinois, Houston, Kent State, and Miami (Ohio). A pair of other Power 4 schools are showing heavy interest.

"Other schools recruiting me the hardest are probably Iowa and Mizzou," Brown said. "I would probably say Mizzou is one of my favorites just because there in my home state."