Chambana Sun

History was made for the Fighting Illini Basketball team on Wednesday night during the 2025 NBA Draft. Freshmen Kasparas Jakucionis from Vilnius, Lithuania, and Will Riley from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, became the first-ever one-and-done players in the history of Illinois' program.

Jakucionis was selected 20th overall by the Miami Heat, followed immediately by Riley at 21st overall to the Washington Wizards as part of a trade with Utah. This selection marks a significant achievement for Illinois, which is one of only three programs with multiple first-round picks in this year's draft alongside Duke and Rutgers.

This occasion marks only the third time in school history that Illinois has had two first-round picks in the same draft. The previous instances occurred in 1989 with Nick Anderson and Kenny Battle, and again in 2005 with Deron Williams and Luther Head.

Under Head Coach Brad Underwood's leadership, Illinois has now seen four players selected in the NBA Draft. Jakucionis and Riley join Ayo Dosunmu, who was picked in the second round by the Chicago Bulls in 2021, and Terrence Shannon Jr., who was a first-round pick last year by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Illinois leads the Big Ten with three first-round picks over the last two drafts. Nationally, they rank second behind Duke and are tied with Baylor and UConn.

During his time at Illinois, Jakucionis led his team in scoring and assists with averages of 15.2 points per game (ppg) and 4.7 assists per game (apg). He also ranked third on his team for rebounds at 5.7 per game (rpg). Jakucionis equaled an Illini freshman record by scoring 494 points during his 33 starts. He set records for shooting accuracy from free throws at 84.5% and achieved eight games where he scored over 20 points each. His performance earned him several accolades including being named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.

Riley averaged 12.6 ppg along with 4.1 rpg and 2.2 apg while participating in all of Illinois' games this season. He notably scored double figures in most of his final games this season including five games where he scored over twenty points each time. Riley's debut saw him setting an Illini freshman record by scoring thirty-one points against Eastern Illinois leading to his recognition as Big Ten Sixth Man of Year.

Together Jakucionis and Riley contributed significantly to Illinois' successful season which included achieving twenty-two wins along with reaching NCAA Tournament Second Round before concluding their campaign ranked seventeenth according to kenpom rankings.