Jakucionis and Riley Selected Back-to-Back in First Round of 2025 NBA Draft
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– History was made for Fighting Illini Basketball on Wednesday night, as freshmen Kasparas Jakucionis (Vilnius, Lithuania) and Will Riley (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada) became the first-ever one-and-done players for the Illinois program. The Illini stars were selected back-to-back in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft, with Jakucionis taken at No. 20 overall by the Miami Heat and Riley going to the Washington Wizards the very next pick at No. 21 as part of a trade with Utah. Illinois stands as one of just three programs with multiple first-round picks in this year's draft, along with Duke (3) and Rutgers (2). This marks the first time in 20 years, and just the third time in school history, that Illinois has had two first-round picks in the same draft, joining 1989 (Nick Anderson and Kenny Battle) and 2005 (Deron Wiliams and Luther Head). Illinois has now had four players selected in the NBA Draft du...