By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
With NIL agreements allowing the NCAA to pay potentially big money to players, more and more European prospects are committing to USA college basketball.
According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, talented Barcelona and Real Madrid players Kasparas Jakucionis and Egor Demin are the latest to do that.
Jakucionis, a potential first-round pick in the 2025 NBA draft, has committed to Illinois, while Demin, a projected 2025 NBA Draft lottery pick, has committed to BYU.
Jakucionis, one of the youngest ever to debut for Barcelona at 16, made his Euroleague debut in January. He led the Adidas Next Generation tournament with 9.0 assists per game, earning MVP honors at ANGT Belgrade. He also set a new ANGT assists record in Berlin with 17 assists against ALBA Berlin.
Demin averaged 16.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.6 steals during Real Madrid’s ANGT Berlin winning campaign, shining in the final with 26 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.
Givony points out in his latest report that “a flurry of elite international prospects are expected to announce their commitments to some of the top programs in college basketball, as the proliferation of NIL agreements has made the NCAA a far more attractive route in recent years.”
Chema de Lucas also revealed that Real Madrid’s three-time ANGT champion, Ismaila Diagne, is close to finalizing his transfer to Gonzaga University.
It’s also believed that the NCAA has shown great interest in Real Madrid’s Hugo Gonzalez, the MVP of the latest Berlin tournament. BYU was reportedly interested in him but ultimately decided to get Demin.
Highly rated Frenchman Nolan Traore, one of the latest Addidas Next Generation Tournament standouts with INSEP Paris, still has to decide where to play among college and pro options for the next season, as also Givony previously wrote.