Yorkville’s Jason Jakstys signs with Illinois basketball

Family and basketball mean everything to Jason Jakstys.

Surrounded by family, friends and teammates, the 6-foot-10 Yorkville senior signed his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday afternoon to play basketball at the University of Illinois.

“Ever since I’ve been able to visit the campus and meet all the coaches and players it’s awesome to be around and it’s like a family environment,” he said. “That’s one of the things we were looking for. If I were to join a basketball team, I would want it to be like a family. That was one of the biggest things for me.”

It also is worth mentioning that Jakstys loves the Illini.

“I grew up an Illinois fan watching Illinois basketball,” he said. “My dad (Tom) is from Champaign. He played at Illinois Wesleyan. I’ve always been a fan of Illinois, so when I got the offer it was really hard to say no. It’s really the perfect fit.”

Jakstys is the first Division I basketball player to come out of Yorkville.

“That’s a big deal, and it’s not just Division I, it’s high major, Big Ten and a state school,” Foxes boys basketball coach John Holakovsky said. “I think that is drawing a lot of hype in the area. Our Twitter account is going nuts with Illinois fans and Illinois Nation. Illinois put it out on Twitter and I had 40 to 50 notifications within seconds.”

The attention Jakstys is receiving is well deserved.

“Jason has earned it by working his butt off his whole high school career,” Holakovsky said. “He had a rough start just with COVID and a shortened season as a freshman and has gone from all that to where he is now all before his senior season.”

Perhaps the most exciting thing for Illini fans is that Jakstys has heightened his game continually.

“He’s still getting so much better, and every college coach I talked to I said, ‘Hey, his best days are ahead of him,’” Holakovsky said. “When he was a sophomore there were times he’d drive to the basket from the 3-point line and would fall down because he was not used to the size of his feet and steps. I think about that now and he’s bringing the ball up for us on our offense sometimes. Every time I see him play basketball again, he’s gotten better from the last time I’ve seen him play.”

Hard work truly can pay off handsomely. Just look what it’s done for Jakstys.

“I really fell in love with working hard,” Jakstsys said. “When I work hard I get better and the game becomes easier. I honestly look forward to practices more than the games just because I can mess around with the guys and do a little trash talk here and there.”

As a sophomore, Jakstys figured he had a shot of playing Division I hoops, but didn’t truly know where he was capable of going until he joined Breakaway Basketball last summer.

“When I was younger I knew I always wanted to play professional basketball,” he said. “Probably my sophomore year I thought I could be good enough to play Division I, high major or low major, whatever, but then over the summer when I joined Breakaway, they really opened up my eyes and showed me my true potential.”

It’s been an amazing journey so far for Jakstys, who had about a dozen family members and friends at the signing, including his parents.

“This is awesome,” his mother Mary Beth Jakstys said. “Just looking up there at him signing I was like, ‘Wow, think of all the years we’ve put into this, driving to practice, wondering where he’s going to go to school, deciding on travel teams, do we or don’t we join the AAU circuit,’ so it’s neat to see him make a decision.”

Even an uncle rushed down from Chicago in time to attend his signing.

“I’ve always played with my (two older) brothers and even with my younger brother playing up with us,” he said. “It’s really nice to know I have a school that I can call home and it’s nice to be able to celebrate with my family and friends. The best part of today is the celebration part.”

Jakstys was one of 10 Foxes to sign during a short ceremony in the school’s cafeteria.

The baseball team was represented most with six signees, including Nate Harris (University of Kentucky), Beckett Kot (Waubonsee CC), Brendan Mack (Lakeland CC), Simon Skroch (University of Minnesota), Sebastian Westphal (Connors State College) and Kam Yearsley (John A. Logan College).

Amaya Gianneschi (Marian University), signed to play women’s basketball, Marie Reichman (Aurora University) committed to women’s volleyball and Allegra Triner (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) put her signature on the dotted line to run cross country.

“This might be our largest group that has signed on the official signing day so congratulations to you 10,” Yorkville athletic director Luke Engelhardt said. “As these student-athletes can attest, this didn’t happen overnight. This is thousands of hours of work put into whatever sport or field they’ve decided to commit to and some for multiple sports. That’s a lot of time in the gym, a lot of time in the weight room and a lot of time getting to and from different places, and that’s where the parents come into play. Thank you, parents.”