It’s a youth movement in Champaign. Unlike last season for Illinois basketball, in which three of the five starters were fifth-year players, at least a few freshmen are expected to be in the starting lineup and play significant minutes this year. With the start of the season approaching, the team recently had their annual media day at the Ubben Basketball Complex, and the new freshmen class had their first chance of the year to speak to the press. They may be young, but they seem more than ready to contribute heavily to this year’s edition of Illini basketball. Here’s an update on each of the five freshmen before the season begins on Nov. 4.
Tomislav Ivišić
The 7-foot-1 Ivišić shot over 40% last season from beyond the arc playing for SC Derby in Europe’s Adriatic League. However, it was on a relatively small sample size: 26 shots in 22 games. Illinois recently released a few minutes of practice footage, and Ivišić hit multiple threes in the video, solidifying belief in how good of a shooter he really is. His shooting, combined with his strength and physicality in the post, will allow him to be a versatile threat for the Illini.
“I’m really comfortable with it,” Ivišić said about his shooting. “I would say that’s one of the things I do really good.”
Illinois fans may have to wait for a while to see Ivišić on the court. He is currently still going through the clearance process with the NCAA and sat out of the team’s scrimmage against Butler on Sunday. Ivišić, however, is not focusing on that. Instead, he’s focusing on maximizing what he can get out of his practices with the team right now.
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“Coaches are working on it, and I know I’m in good hands. I trust them completely with that,” Ivišić said. “I’m focused only on basketball here, to practice, give every day my best, best as I can. If I don’t do that, if I worry about other things except basketball, I’m not going to be better every day.”
Jason Jakstys
Jakstys is embracing the process, plain and simple.
“Obviously, I want to be a four or five-year guy here,” said Jakstys. “I think one of the biggest things I need to do is be a role guy, do my job, help the team out as much as I can, and just stick with it.”
The 6-foot-10 center came to Champaign this summer as a skinny, developmental big man for head coach Brad Underwood and his staff. Competing against much more physical players like Ivišić and Morez Johnson Jr. has been an adjustment for the Yorkville High School product, but he’s taking it all as a learning experience.
“It’s really helped me with my physicality,” said Jakstys. “High school and college, completely different level. So now I’m learning how to be a little more physical, bumping on ball screens, all that. And then defending, obviously, just staying in front, trying not to get guys past me, so it’s helped me out a lot.”
Jakstys has the offensive skills of a future productive stretch big. He is comfortable handling the ball, attacking the rim, and shooting the three. His skills are there, and they’re only going to get better. But his real point of development, as he pointed out, is getting stronger and bigger to be able to match up with Big Ten quality big men on a daily basis. Strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher has already worked with Jakstys and helped him put on weight.
“My first day, (Fletcher) puts his hand on my shoulder, says ‘I think you need a little bit more,’” said Jakstys. “That was the hardest thing when I came in here was actually eating. Just trying to expand my stomach. Came in, couldn’t even finish a waffle, now I’m finishing two waffles a day.”
Kasparas Jakucionis
We’re hearing more and more good things about Jakucionis and his talent every day, whether that’s directly from Underwood or from the impressive practice footage that Illinois has put out so far. From the film we’ve seen of Jakucionis in practice, he seems extremely comfortable, whether that’s making tough passes, hitting threes or finishing through contact. Jakucionis looks special, and Underwood agrees.
“Very very high IQ, sees things ahead. He’s immersed in film,” Underwood said about Jakucionis. “His passion, his happy place is truly on the court and working.”
Jakucionis’ maturity for being so young stands out, both in his on-court play and dedication to improvement off the court. Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that he’s only 18 when talking to him.
“I’m looking at a lot of film of practices, of some games, and just watching basketball every day,” said Jakucionis. “Because I think that’s the way to improve your game. You can learn from mistakes you did before, you can improve the areas you need to improve. You can see the game from outside because when you’re playing, it’s kind of different. But when you see from outside, you see the real things you shouldn’t do.”
For Jakucionis, being in the United States compared to Europe is not something that he’s had to adjust to. For him, it’s basketball as usual, and he’s ready to make an impact no matter if it’s Champaign or Lithuania.
“Basketball is basketball everywhere. It’s the same game,” said Jakucionis. “Just maybe here, players are more physical, I would say. Like, we all know that US basketball is more physical. But basketball is the same game, so it’s not a big difference. Just some little changes.”
Morez Johnson Jr.
The longest committed player in Illinois’ freshman class, Johnson hasn’t wasted any time getting to work and making a strong impression on the Illini coaching staff.
“Morez is a guy that we have not had in our program at 6-9, 255,” Underwood said. “Elite athlete, getting in and out of screens. You can just throw it up and he can go get it just about anywhere. He’s a guy that has created quite a niche for himself in terms of rebounding the basketball, what he does defensively.”
Johnson is a fierce rebounder and aggressive scorer in the paint. With a team full of shooters, including the other big men, it will open up a lot of space for Johnson to both score and facilitate out of the post.
“They can’t double anybody, so it’s perfect because if they double, you just kick it out and the open man will hit the shot,” said Johnson. “It’s either guard the paint or guard the free throw line.”
Johnson, after averaging 20 points and 15 rebounds per game while dominating the high school circuit his senior year at Thornton Township, was named 2024 Illinois Mr. Basketball, Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year and Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year. Now, though, he has a strong level of competition that will push him to get better, with 6-foot-10 sophomore big man Carey Booth, Ivišić, Jakstys and fifth-year forward Ben Humrichous.
“Everybody’s going out every day, doing their best in practice, challenging, pushing each other,” said Johnson. “Making sure that everybody become the best they can be to help the team overall.”
Will Riley
Riley, the highest-rated recruit to join Illinois since Dee Brown back in 2002, is a talented scorer from all three levels. With a group of players who are so offensively talented and able to do multiple things, Underwood said that Riley has been utilized in both on and off-the-ball situations during practice to see which situations he’s most comfortable in.
“He’s a tremendous playmaker,” said Underwood, lauding Riley’s skills as a facilitator in addition to his scoring ability.
No matter how he’s used this year, though, Riley is ready and willing to do whatever is asked of him for the team to reach their common goal.
“I feel comfortable in doing anything it takes to win for this team,” said Riley.
With the hopes of being a first-round pick in next year’s NBA Draft and being a five-star recruit, Illinois fans and the media have high expectations for Riley. Underwood mentioned in his press conference that Illinois has already had 20-plus NBA teams in the building to watch Riley, Jakucionis and other future NBA players on the roster. However, the 18-year-old isn’t fazed or worried at all by the outside noise or expectations of him this year.
“No, I don’t feel like there’s any pressure,” said Riley. “This has been a goal of mine since I was a little kid. Now I’m achieving it and starting to build on it, so there’s never been any pressure.”
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