ESPN: Kasparas Jakucionis Commits to Illinois; Projected 1st Round in NBA Draft 2025

Lithuanian guard Kasparas Jakucionis has committed to play his college basketball at Illinois during the 2024-25 season, ESPN's Jonathan Givony reported Tuesday.

Givony noted that Jakucionis is one of the top international prospects in the class of 2024, and is projected as a potential first-round pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

Jakucionis is set to join an Illinois program that has made four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and reached the Elite Eight last season.

Per Givony, the 6'6" Jakucionis is one of the youngest players to ever suit up for FC Barcelona, as he debuted for the squad in a Liga ACB game at 16 years of age.

Jakucionis, who turns 18 on Wednesday, also made his Euroleague debut with Barcelona in January.

Although Jakucionis' statistical output at Barcelona was modest, the fact that he was entrusted to play at all in a major professional league against many former NBA players speaks to his potential.

So far this year, Jakucionis has starred at the NBA's Basketball Without Borders Camp and the Nike Hoop Summit. Givony noted that Jakucionis averaged 17.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game in 34 contests across multiple competitions.

With Jakucionis in the fold, the Fighting Illini figure to be contenders to both win the Big Ten and potentially vie for a national championship next season.

According to 247Sports, Illinois has the 16th-best incoming transfer class for the 2024-25 season and the 29th-best class of incoming players overall when also taking high schoolers into account.

Jakucionis is the second major international prospect to commit to Illinois this offseason, joining 7-foot Croatian center Tomislav Ivišić.