Good Morning, Illini Nation: New draft stock perspective

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Sign up for our daily basketball newsletter here Welcome to Good Morning, Illini Nation, your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey.

Hell offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwoods team and college basketball at large: Neither Kasparas Jakucionis nor Will Riley have officially declared for the 2025 NBA Draft.

Count on it happening soon.

Mostly because it has to.

The deadline for early entrants (of which both Jakucionis and Riley would be) to declare for the draft is April 26.

Both Illinois freshmen are still projected as first-round picks in most mock drafts.

Jakucionis' stock has dropped a little bit his turnover trouble can't be ignored but he's still firmly in the lottery.

Riley's stock rose thanks to the way he played the final two months of the season.

The Ringer still publishes an NBA Draft Guide despite Kevin O'Connor taking his talents to Yahoo!, and it has Jakucionis and Riley at Nos.

9 and 25, respectively, in the most recent update.

Here's some of the scout on the Illini stars: J.

Kyle Mann on Jakucionis: "Ultimately, Jakucioniss success at the next level will live or die with his credibility as a scorer, and while I dont think he is an 'If its in the air, jog the other way' type of marksman, Im optimistic hell be a consistent threat as a shooter.

Through January 1 (so, pre-injury), Jakucionis was hitting 41.4 of his 3s, and the types of attempts varieda blend of stepbacks in isolation and dribble pull-ups in the pick-and-roll and catch-and-shoot looks.

"Post-injury, his self-created 3s dried up almost entirely, which I suspect was a result of that injury to his nonshooting forearm.

Beyond that, the craft in his middle game could definitely stand to progress and evolve, but hes great when he gets to the rim.

When he isnt finishing at the basket (71.7 percent there), he relishes contact, which allows him to be a foul-generating machine.

I expect his broad-shouldered frame to become a useful hammer in the paint by his mid-20s." Danny Chau on Riley: "Riley plays with a modern intuition that, paradoxically, makes him hard to place in todays NBA game.

Skilled 6-foot-8 wings with the ability to confidently pull up from 28 feet out, throw a hook pass off a live dribble, and capably navigate and relocate off the ball into open space dont grow on trees.

Rileys size grants him novel angles and vantage points alongside what is ostensibly a guards skill set.

"But the young Canadians thin frame presents a daunting burden of proof.

On good nights, Rileys well-rounded, rhythm- and timing-based offense flows like lavamethodical but scintillating.

On off nights, you wonder whether hell ever be strong enough to survive the NBAs rigors.".

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