2025 NBA Draft: Illinois Freshman Tandem Look to Dominate in Big Ten

The Kasparas Jakucionis-Will Riley combo has high-level professional talent.

Mar 30, 2024; Boston, MA, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders react against the Connecticut Huskies in the finals of the East Regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports / Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

Brad Underwood's Fighting Illini landed two major prospects in the 2025 freshman class in guard Kasparas Jakucionis (Lithuania) and wing Will Riley, two players who have extremely high pedigree and could both find themselves in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. They added high four-star Morez Johnson as well, the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year and yet another athlete with real professional potential.

Illinois had a very successful 2023-24 campaign in which they made the Elite Eight before running into the buzzsaw that was Connecticut. They had Terrence Shannon Jr. drafted at the back end of the first round but lost several players to the portal and graduation.

Even with these departures, Illinois reloaded in a major way this offseason. Here are the two incoming players with the best odds of getting drafted in the first round.

Kasparas Jakucionis | Point Guard | Lithuania

The first player to discuss here is Lithuanian guard Kasparas Jakucionis, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound lead initiator whose functional handle and playmaking ability pop off the screen when watching his FIBA U18 tape. Though he lacks vertical pop, he is quick with the ball in his hands, using screens to get downhill and attack the basket and finishing at a decent rate (66th percentile according to Synergy Sports ).

What he lacks in consistent outside shooting ability he makes up for with extremely high feel on both sides of the ball. The aforementioned playmaking is obvious, but even on the defensive end, he knows how to read opposing guards and get his hands active in passing lanes, causing live ball turnovers. He's a great transition passer on top of this, so he can easily turn bad passes into points on the other end.

Jakucionis isn't a fantastic athlete (just one dunk in FIBA competition), but his IQ and effort, as cliche as it may sound, could get him into the top 30 picks in the 2025 NBA Draft alone. Given his ability to find bigs in the paint, playing with players like Carey Booth and the aforementioned Morez Johnson at power forward could give him an edge in the pick-and-roll game.

Will Riley | Wing | Canada (The Phelps Academy, PA)

Five-star wing Will Riley is an advanced shotmaker whose guard skills at 6-foot-8 truly make him an intriguing player. Displaying a more-than-functional handle and ability to create for himself off the dribble, Riley was ranked as the No. 2 player coming out of the state of Pennsylvania after reclassifying from the 2025 class to 2024 in order to play with the Illini this season.

Though other Illinois players like Ben Humichrous (transfer, Evansville) will challenge for minutes at the small forward position, Riley is too good of a player to be denied high-level minutes at the Power 5 level and has every opportunity to be a first-round pick in 2025.

His scoring ability alone makes him an elite prospect, but he does more than just that. He has shown flashes of playmaking aptitude, and the ability to access passes off of the bounce further indicates his handle is effective.

He's also good in transition – according to Synergy Sports, he was 87th percentile in points per shot at 1.25. Though the sample size was limited in this particular category at Phelps, his tape shows that when on the break, he can not only score, but make winning plays.

Overall Outlook

Given the number of names on teams that have legitimate college-level ability, neither of these players may stuff the stat sheet the way they would on a less talented team. However, playing with high-level teammates should, in theory, raise their level of play also.

Jakucionis seems that he will have an easier adjustment to this level given his FIBA experience as well as his skillset as a playmaking lead guard. Riley, while extremely talented, will not get the same volume he did in AAU and high school, meaning he will have to make his shots count. This means he will have to raise his shot quality, and not take so many difficult looks.

Look for Illinois to compete for a Big Ten Championship this season – they certainly have the talent to do so.

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