By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

June 25, 2025

Kasparas Jakucionis has become the first University of Illinois player to be selected in the first 20 picks of the National Basketball Association Draft since Meyers Leonard accomplished the feat 13 years ago.

By hearing his name called Wednesday night in the 2025 NBA Draft, Jakucionis also becomes the first former Illinois player to be a one-and-done talent in program history.

The 6-foot-6 lead guard from Lithuania was selected No. 20 overall by the Miami Heat after spending one year with the Illini that led to All-Big Ten Conference selections and a second round appearance in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Jakucionis was named to the Big Ten Conference All-Freshman team, All-Big Ten second team by The Associated Press and named to the All-Big Ten Conference third team honors by the league’s media and coaches.

In 33 starts this season, Jakucionis led the Illini in scoring (15 ppg) and assists (4.72 apg) while ranking third in rebounding (5.7 rpg). He finished his first and likely only collegiate season with 25 games scoring in double figures and has set Illini freshman record with 10 games of 20 points or more. Jakucionis arrived in Champaign-Urbana at 18 years old after playing for European powerhouse FC Barcelona in Spain and having never played basketball or resided for a significant time in the United States of America, but was one of the most hyped Illini prospects in several years.

The latest mock draft from ESPN.com analysts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo had Jakucionis, who turned 19 years old on May 29, projected to be selected No. 11 overall by Portland. The irony of this projection is Jakucionis would be selected in the lottery portion of the NBA Draft with the same pick and by the same franchise that Leonard was taken in the 2012 draft.

“Jakucionis' unselfishness, playmaking and size, enabling him to play on and off the ball, make him a relatively seamless fit in most places with upside long-term considering he recently turned 19,” Woo wrote on ESPN.com Wednesday morning.

In what he admitted would be “a further fall than expected for Jakucionis”, CBSSports.com basketball analyst Kyle Boone projected the former Illini lead guard to be taken No. 13 overall by the Atlanta Hawks less than 24 hours after Atlanta acquired Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round pick in a three-team trade that also involved the Brooklyn Nets.

“It's increasingly hard to find a robust market for true point guards who have flaws in their profile. Jakucionis is a tremendous playmaker but he was turnover-prone at Illinois and shot just 31.8 percent on threes,” Boone wrote Wednesday morning.

USA Today projected Jakucionis to be headed north of the United States border to the Toronto Raptors with the ninth overall selection in what would be the highest selected Illini player since Deron Williams went No. 3 overall by the Utah Jazz just 20 years ago.

Along with his positional size and spectacular play-making ability, Jakucionis’ extensive amateur background playing in Europe is seen as a very attractive quality to his draft prospects at the NBA level. During the 2023-24 season, Jakucionis played 19 games for FC Barcelona's second team, averaging 19.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 48 percent from the field overall, 38 percent from three-point range, and 88 percent from the free throw line.

Jakucionis participated in the 2024 Nike Hoops Summit in April where his World Team took on former Illini center Morez Johnson Jr. and Team USA. He also represented Lithuania at the FIBA Under-16 European Championship in 2022 and the FIBA Under-18 European Championship in 2023. During the Under-16 Championship, the 6-foot-6 guard was key to Lithuania's run to the gold medal by averaging 9.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.4 steals in the tournament.