2. How was Kasparas Jakuionis not a top 5 recruit?
Overall, I thought Illinois had a great class of 2024. We had Will Riley, who was the top commit as a five-star recruit and the No. 20 player in the country.
Illinois also had three other top 55 players pledge to the program. Morez Johnson Jr. and Tomislav Ivisic were both great gets for the program. They have been doing some good work in the paint and out beyond the three-point arc. But there is one player from the class of 2024 who has blown the doors off the gym.
Kasparas Jakucionis has been playing a level of basketball I am not sure I have seen in Champaign. He is doing things on the court that definitely haven’t been seen in the last decade, and I would argue maybe ever for the Orange and Blue.
Just a few days ago, CBS Sports released a 2025 NBA Mock Draft. They had Jakucionis going No. 5 overall to the Portland Trail Blazers. A projected top-five pick, one would assume he was a top recruit in the country for 2024.
That wasn’t the case, though. Jakucionis was only the No. 36 player in the class of 2024. He had talent, but even the recruiting sites couldn’t see what was coming.
Jakucionis continued his incredible play against Missouri on Sunday. He finished the game with 21 points, four assists, and two rebounds while shooting 5-of-11 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range. He also made all eight of his free throws.
The thing with this kid is that he is more than just a scorer. Some of his shots blow me away, but he is great at creating for others. There are so many times he can pass a player open and get him a good look.
Jakucionis is an impressive player, and he displayed that again on Sunday. It is a shocker that this kid wasn’t a top-five player in his recruiting class.