The NBA Draft signals the start of a new league year. It also tends to involve players that you have never heard of, unless you are the most diehard college basketball fan.
If you watched the Big Ten last year, you may be familiar with a Lithuanian guard who took no time adjusting to his new home in Illinois. Kasparas Jakucionis only played one season with the Illini before declaring for the NBA Draft, but he made sure it was a good one. The freshman guard averaged 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists for an Illinois team that finished 22-13 and made the 2025 NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed.
Now, Jakucionis is turning his attention to the NBA Draft. A recent mock from ESPN had him landing with the Bulls with the 12th overall pick. A mock draft from The Athletic, has him going eighth overall to the Nets. Sporting News’ own Gilbert McGregor has Jakucionis lasting a little longer and falling to the Trail Blazers at No. 11.
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With the expectation that he will be taken in the first round and will soon be a household name, here is how to pronounce Jakucionis’ name.
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Kasparas Jakucionis pronunciation
Jakucionis’ first name is pronounced like “cahs-per-us.”
If he landed with a southern team in the NBA, they may try to call him Casper-us, but when he pronounces it in a media day video from Illinois, he emphasized the “ah” sound in the start and middle of his name. Here is how the Illinois media guide said to pronounce it, “KAS-per-es.”
His last name is pronounced “yack-ew-cho-nis.” It’s a soft ‘J’ sound to start and then the ‘cio’ in the middle of his name turns into the ‘cho’ sound. The Illinois media guide had his last name listed as “yah-koo-CHOH-nis.”
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Kasparas Jakucionis stats
Here are Jakucionis’ per-game stats from his one year at Illinois.
| Season | Games | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FG% | 3FG% | FT% |
| 2024-25 | 33 | 31.8 | 15.0 | 5.7 | 4.7 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 44.0% | 31.8% | 84.5% |
The standout guard led Illinois in both points and rebounds. Despite his 6-6 frame, Jakucionis also had the third-most rebounds per game for the Illini. He made the Big Ten’s All-Freshman Team and was Third-team All-Big Ten. Jakucionis wasn’t in the running for National Player of the Year, but he did average the 15th most points and sixth most assists per game in the Big Ten.
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