Kasparas Jakucionis on Paving the Way for European Stars at Illinois

“Illinois started recruiting more and more Europeans,” Jakucionis said. "Before me, before Tomislav [Ivisic], it wasn’t a lot of European guys coming to Illinois."

In the program's BK era (Before Kasparas), the closest thing the Illini had to a European star was Giorgi Bezhanishvili, a native of Georgia (a country in Eastern Europe, not "the country" below the Mason-Dixon Line).

But even Bezhanishvili played high school ball in the U.S., at The Patrick School – the same high school as incoming Illinois freshman Brandon Lee.

Prior to Jakucionis (Lithuania) and Ivisic (Croatia), the Illini hadn’t truly tapped into the European pipeline. But after enjoying clear success in Year 1, coach Brad Underwood and his staff doubled down this offseason by bringing in Zvonimir Ivisic (Tomislav’s twin brother), Mihailo Petrovic (Serbia) and David Mirkovic (Montenegro).

Although the Illini are set to bring back Tomislav, they’ll move on without Jakucionis, who declared for the NBA Draft, in which he’s projected to be a lottery pick.

The Jakucionis-Illinois union was a relatively novel concept all around, but the former Illini guard seems to have no regrets:

“That was also my little risky decision to do, but I’m really happy I made the choice there.”

Just a year removed from Jakucionis first stepping foot on campus in Champaign, the Illinois program has quickly become a home for European talent – and it's safe to say Underwood and his crew’s willingness to build that environment began with the foundational pillars of Tomislav Ivisic and Jakucionis.

“I think they trusted me, I trusted them," Jakucionis said. "Now you can see their trust in European players."

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