Derek Piper (effectively their version of Robby McCombs is my sense) just dropped an update on the Illinois insider board and talks about BYU in the note (along with a bunch of other schools) re: the European players:

Key BYU comments here:

1) "I've recently been told that BYU and Florida have also been very competitive on the NIL front. Florida has been in the mix for a while here. It sounds like BYU, similar to UI, is later to the party but has some real $ to throw around. But as of right now, I think the Cougars are in position to get Demin instead."

2) Said that "Demin hasn't announced where he is going but UI has been out of the mix for the past few weeks after the price tag went crazy."

Couple other interesting nuggets from the article:

1) Jakucionis (on Barca) was the best player on the floor when he played against Demin and Hugo (Real Madrid). Jakucionis had 26 pts, 9 boards and 6 assts on 6 of 12 shooting from 3. In the same game, Egor had 9pts, 5 assists and Hugo had 16pts, 6 boards.

2) Reiterated that Jakucionis, Demin and Hugo are ALL projected '25 lottery picks

3) That said, made the comment that "Demin is considered to have a different level of upside standing around 6-8/9."

4) Jakucionis will finish up the tournament this weekend and "is expected to go into [college] decision mode. "Sounds like the Illini have really turned things up here [in terms of recruiting him]."

5) Article goes on to say that other key players in the hunt for Jaukicionis have been Wake Forest, Gonzaga (who is apparently out now)

6) Jakucionis is drawing attention from other pro leagues but the expectation is that he will play in college next year. "The Illini are all-in on getting him in the orange and blue. I think they are in a strong spot as of now, but we're not at the finish line quite yet."