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It's crowded atop the Big Ten Conference this year, with Michigan State, Purdue, Michigan, UCLA and Wisconsin all within two games at the top of the standings, but look just a little bit further down and you'll find a team from the Prairie State that firmly believes they're every bit as good as any team in the country. The Illinois Fighting Illini are one of six Big Ten teams that are ranked in the top 25, and that's largely because they have one of the most talented players in the conference on their roster.
Kasparas Jakucionis has only donned the Illinois uniform for 22 games, but the 18-year-old freshman has already etched his name in the program's record books. In a 95-74 win at Minnesota on Saturday night, Jakucionis busted out of a two game slump and scored 24 points in 37 minutes of action. It was Jakucionis' ninth 20-point game of the season, breaking a freshman record set by Cory Bradford 26 years ago. Fellow freshman Will Riley led all scorers with 27 points off the bench.
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In addition to averaging 15 points per game, Jakucionis is also averaging 5.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists, making the heralded Lithuanian teenager one of only two players in the country averaging at least 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game this year. For good reason, Illini coach Brad Underwood touted Jakucionis as “one of the best players in the country” even before lighting it up against the Gophers on Saturday night.
Jakucionis played for FC Barcelona prior to making the trip across the Atlantic to play for Brad Underwood at the University of Illinois. It's expected that if he opts to make the leap to the next level at season's end, Jakucionis would be a lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Even if he leaves plenty to be desired on the defensive end of the floor, his offensive upside is high enough that many teams would be eager to select him if they had the opportunity to do so.
