With the Olympics in full swing and the FIBA u18 European Championships currently taking place in Finland, we thought it was only appropriate to talk international basketball on this week’s episode of the 247Sports College Basketball Show.
For this discussion, we focused on six incoming college basketball freshmen with distinct international roots — meaning these aren’t players who played their high school or grassroots basketball in the states — and didn’t even play at any of the NBA Academies last season.
BYU’s Egor Demin is a jumbo 6-foot-8 guard from Russia who most recently played with Real Madrid. He’s being touted as a potential “one-and-done” prospect and will be given 5-star status as well as a No. 16 ranking in the class of 2024.
Illinois has a pair of incoming international freshman (not counting Canadian native Will Riley, who played at the Phelps School in Pennsylvania last year). Kasparas Jakucionis, a 6-foot-5 guard from Lithuania, played with FC Barcelona last year. Tomislav Ivisic, a 7-foot big man from Croatia, is the twin brother of incoming Arkansas transfer, Zvonimir Ivisic, who followed John Calipari from Kentucky. Both will be rated as 4-star recruits. Jakucioni will be ranked No. 36 overall in the national class while Ivisic will come in at No. 51.
SMU also has an impact big man arriving from the international ranks in Samet Yigitoglu, a 7-foot-2 Turkish native. Yigitoglu will also be given 4-star status and inserted into the 2024 rankings as the No. 62 ranked prospect.
Florida and Villanova have also added guards who could contend for playing time next year. Urban Kalvar joins the Gators from Slovenia while Sasha Gavalyugov is coming to Villanova from Bulgaria. Both have been rated as three-star prospects.
The entire show, which breaks down all six prospects, can be found on the 247Sports YouTube Channel or viewed in its entirety below.