A Big Ten Coach Explains the NBA Draft Slide of Illinois' Kasparas Jakucionis

Jakucionis' drop was one of the stunners of the draft. An anonymous Big Ten coach detailed why the Illini guard fell.

Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis (32) drives to the basket against Xavier forward Jerome Hunter (2) in an NCAA Tournament game at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Friday, March 21, 2025. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Illinois fans aren’t accustomed to tuning into the NBA Draft as must-see TV – at least not in the past decade or so. In fact, only 11 Illini have heard their name called on draft night since the turn of the century – and that number drops to just four over the past 15 years (including Brandin Podziemski, who played one season at Illinois before finishing his college career at Santa Clara).

But that all changed in Wednesday night's 2025 NBA Draft, when Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley were taken off the board in back-to-back picks. The only caveat: It took a lot longer than expected for NBA commissioner Adam Silver to announce Jakucionis’ name. 

Kasparas Jakučionis is selected 20th overall by the @MiamiHEAT in the 2025 #NBADraft presented by State Farm!

Watch on ABC & ESPN. pic.twitter.com/8zGJLebZIv

— NBA (@NBA) June 26, 2025

A 6-foot-6 Lithuanian lead guard, Jakucionis was a consensus mid- to late-lottery projection in nearly every mock draft, yet he wasn’t selected until the 20th pick by the Miami Heat. 

Naturally, questions swirled around the cause of Jakucionis’ drop. And few are better equipped to answer those questions than those who scouted Jakucionis’ game intensely throughout l season: Big Ten coaches.

With that in mind, an anonymous coach from the league offered his insights to ESPN:

“As the season went on and as teams scouted him, he kind of came back down to earth. … His stats tailed off the second half of Big Ten play, and he’s someone you could go at and isolate on defense,” said the coach.

All objectively true if you watched Illinois' games closely. And although Jakucionis’ late-season woes were well-documented, it still begs the question: What changed on draft night?

None of this information was novel. So did the mock drafts just get it wrong? 

We won't know until Jakucionis hits the floor in a Heat uniform. But that's why we watch, right?

NBA Draft night always features a certain amount of unpredictability, with drops, leaps, trades and everything in between. The bottom line is this: Jakucionis wound up at an excellent destination in Miami – and both the player and franchise should be better for it.

More From Illinois on Sports Illustrated:

A Look at Each Illinois NBA Draft Pick Since the Turn of the Century

Social Media Reacts to Illinois' Will Riley Being Drafted by Washington Wizards

Miami Heat Draft Illinois' Kasparas Jakucionis: What He Brings