Illinois Basketball's Kasparas Jakucionis Named to Wooden Award Watch List

The freshman guard's excellent play has put him on the short list of college basketball's best players

Jan 2, 2025; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Kasparas Jakucionis (32) drives to the basket during the second half against the Oregon Ducks at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Illinois freshman phenom Kasparas Jakucionis arrived on campus with high expectations, even months before the start of the 2024-2025 campaign. The Illini hadn't welcomed a new recruit regarded so highly into the program in quite some time, if ever. No one could be certain just how high the ceiling was for Jakucionis in Year 1.

And now we know.

Jakucionis was named to the Midseason Top 25 Watch List for the John R. Wooden Award, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced on Tuesday. Now what Illini fans found out quickly and the rest of the country learned soon thereafter has been confirmed: Jakucionis is already one of the best players in college basketball.

Playing his way into the conversation. pic.twitter.com/nsZDsD0RJO

— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) January 8, 2025

The news isn't a total shock, of course. There were whispers of Jakucionis, a 6-foot-6 lead guard from Lithuania, having the sort of potential that could put him in the NBA Draft lottery as early as this summer. By the time Jakucionis made it to Champaign, Illini coach Brad Underwood was already talking up the jewel of his excellent 2024 recruiting class as a sort of superpowered gym rat:

"His upbringing in the game is well beyond his years," Underwood said of Jakucionis during the preseason. "His coaching to this point has been exceptional. He's very, very high IQ – he sees things ahead. He's immersed in film. I think that his passion, his happy place, is truly on the court practicing and working."

Through 14 games, Jakucionis has not only met expectations but massively surpassed them, averaging 16.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists while leading Illinois in made threes (29) and three-point percentage (41.4). Aside from a high turnover rate (3.6 per game), he is giving scouts and critics very little material with which to nitpick his game.

To put Jakucionis' performance to this point in perspective: If he averages of 16-plus points, five-plus rebounds and five-plus assists hold through the season, he will become the first freshman to put together those numbers since Washington’s Markelle Fultz in 2016-2017. The summer after that season, Fultz was selected as the NBA's No. 1 overall draft pick.

Jakucionis was one of only seven freshmen – and five Big Ten players – to be named to the watch list for the Wooden Award, given annually to the player deemed to be college basketball's best. 

On Wednesday, Jakucionis and No. 13 Illinois (11-3, 3-1 Big Ten) welcome Penn State (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) to the State Farm Center in Champaign (8 p.m. CT, BTN), where another opportunity to build his personal résumé awaits.

Other Big Ten players on the Wooden Award watch list:

Airious “Ace” Bailey, Rutgers, freshman
Dylan Harper, Rutgers, freshman
Derik Queen, Maryland, freshman
Braden Smith, Purdue, junior

Other freshmen :

Jeremiah Fears, Oklahoma
Cooper Flagg, Duke
Tre Johnson, Texas

More From Illinois on Sports Illustrated:

Behind Its Offense, Illinois Basketball Climbs the KenPom Rankings

Illinois Coach Brad Underwood Reacts to One 'Bonehead' Play vs. Washington

How to Watch: Illinois Basketball vs. Penn State (Game 15)