Kasparas Jakucionis has experienced a lot of firsts this past year. Playing (and living) in the United States. Playing in front of thousands of fans (and far more watching on television) in packed college basketball arenas. Playing a high-pressure starring role as a teenager for a Big Ten basketball team that brings in about $30 million in revenue annually.
In recent months, the Lithania native and 6-foot-5 guard — who celebrated his 19th birthday last month — has criss-crossed the country to work out for teams and meet NBA executives leading up to the 2025 NBA Draft.
But Jakucionis hasn't had to do it all alone.
Fellow teenager and fellow Illinois freshman Will Riley, a Canada native and 6-foot-8 wing, has gone through most of those experiences alongside Jakucionis. So while they come from very different parts of the world, both have bonded over shared experiences and shared dreams.
On Wednesday, the Illini freshmen likely will fulfill one of their biggest dreams as both are projected first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft and will be in the green room for the event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
"It's been very cool. We played all year together. We were living in the same place when we were traveling," Jakucionis said Tuesday on NBATV. "Even here, when we played against Duke in the same hotel in New York, we live together. It's been an amazing process. Just having this whole year with him and going through the same process with him has been cool."
Most media outlets project Jakucionis and Riley to be drafted on Wednesday, hence the green-room invite. But they have a wide range of landing spots.
Jakucionis is projected to go No. 8 by The Athletic and CBS Sports, and ESPN projects him to go No. 11. But Yahoo! Sports projects Jakucionis to slip to No. 22. Meanwhile, Riley is projected to go No. 19 by Yahoo! Sports, No. 22 by The Athletic, No. 24 by ESPN and No. 26 by CBS Sports.
Still, there is consensus that Jakucionis and Riley will be first-round picks, which would make them the first one-and-done draft picks in Illinois history. Illini head coach Brad Underwood and his staff will be in attendance at Barclays Center to celebrate big moments for their star freshmen — and take advantage of great promotion for their program, which is expected to be one of just three programs with multiple first-round picks, joining Duke and Rutgers. That'd boost the Illini's reputation in recruiting as a burgeoning NBA factory.
Jakucionis and Riley entered Illinois as prized recruits and NBA Draft prospects, but both solidified their NBA stock — and likely raised it — under the Illini staff's watch and direction. Each had ups and downs — Riley struggled in the early/middle of the season, while Jakucionis struggled late — but they certainly boosted Illinois, leading the Illini to 22 wins and a first-round NCAA Tournament victory.
Jakucionis earned All-Big Ten Third Team honors after averaging 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists, while Riley earned Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 12.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
Riley considered Kentucky, Alabama, Arizona and playing in New Zealand, but ultimately became the Illini's first five-star prep prospect addition since Dee Brown in 2002. Jakucionis said Tuesday that he also considered Gonzaga or playing in Australia but that Illinois was pretty clearly his destination.
Both said playing at Illinois prepared them well for the NBA.
"I would say the competition here, everybody's trying to reach the same goals," Jakucionis said. "Everybody's hungry, and I think there's better competition here. I wanted to challenge myself, and I believe the harder path you go through, the more ready you are and the more you grow."
Added Riley: "I feel like it's one of the most physical conferences, so I feel like it prepared me in a lot of ways. There's a lot of older guys that I played with and against, so it was important to experience that. I feel like what helped me a lot is practice. I practice against some of the top guys in the country, so I got to practice against 'em every day. I feel like that helped get my game to the next level, and I started off slow in practice. It was very hard for me, but then as the season went on, I felt like I lifted and raised to the occasion."
Jakucionis and Riley won't only be representing the Illini but also will be repping their countries as they continue the internationalization of the NBA, which had three foreign-born players on the All-NBA First Team this past season.
Jakucionis and former Illini teammate Tomislav Ivisic, an All-Big Ten honorable mention center and Croatia native who returned to Illinois for the 2025-26 season, elevated the Illini on the European stage, and the Illini plan to enter next season with five European-born players.
"I didn't know that they're planning to do that, but I'm happy," Jakucionis said. "I'm happy for everybody that got recruited because I really believe Illinois is a very good platform, especially for Europeans, to play there and to get better."
Riley continues the Canadian pipeline of talent to the NBA, which includes recent NBA champions Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jamal Murray and Andrew Wiggins as well as Bennedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard, RJ Barrett and Zach Edey, among others.
"I feel like Canada basketball has been on the rise for the last couple of years," Riley said, "and it's only going up from now."
Jakucionis and Riley are likely hours away from realizing their NBA Draft dreams. Next up will be playing alongside their idols. Both said they can't wait to play LeBron James. Jakucionis added that playing Luka Doncic, a Slovenia native he admired growing up, also will be a thrill, while Riley mentioned playing Gilgeous-Alexander, a fellow Canadian, will be exciting.
Now, they just await what jersey they'll be wearing and in what city they'll be playing.
But they'll finish their path to the NBA together in the green room at Barclays Center. Each thinks the other will make their eventual NBA team happy.
"He's a great kid, very coachable, works very hard and he is a great shooter," Jakucionis said of Riley. "Can play-make very good too, understands the game. I think the IQ is very good at basketball."
Riley added: "You are going to get a great guy. He is very humble. He's probably one of the most humble people I've ever met. A great teammate. He could play-make for others. He could shoot it very well, and he's just going to work hard."