Illinois basketball looks to round out its 2024 roster with a big guard addition

As the Illinois basketball team looks to have its roster complete for the 2024-25 season, it has one big goal in mind.

Brad Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff have done a great job assembling a talented team, with only two players remaining from the Elite Eight team from a few months ago and losing one of their top assistant coaches this offseason.

Despite all the turmoil, the full-steam-forward mentality remains, as Illinois acquires a talented player from the key transfer portal to mix in one of the best freshmen in the country joining the program.

But Underwood's additions don't end there. In recent days, there have been growing rumors of a possible acquisition of guard Kasparas Jaktionis, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound true combo guard from Lithuania.

According to 247Sports, Illinois is currently pursuing the talented guard, who would be a huge addition to the team and bolster the starting lineup from day one.

One of the many great things about targeting Jaksionis is that he's an immediate contributor, we don't have to develop him in hopes that he'll be a hit down the line, I think this kid can come into the program and be a hit right away.

Jaksionis has everything you want in a guard. He's listed as a shooting guard, but he's much more than that. Jaksionis has great handles and can get through the lane and get to the basket. He's a pick-and-roll specialist. I like that he can also step out and shoot from 3-point range.

Another underrated aspect of Jaksionis' game is his size. He's not a skinny guy that needs a lot of training. Jaksionis is big and can take a beating. He's college-ready and a very promising player.

Jaksionis just finished the Adidas Next Generation Tournament, where he played for the U18 FC Barcelona club and performed pretty well. In seven games, Jaksionis averaged 17.9 points, 9.0 assists, and 6.3 rebounds. His three-point shooting wasn't great, at 27.3%, but he is a solid free-throw shooter, with a 94.2% success rate.

I think the idea of ​​a Kylan Boswell-Yaksionis backcourt is great. I think the two of them are a good match. To be honest, either of them can play the 1 or 2 position. They are both good point guards and shooting guards.