Southern Illinois has landed a commitment from one of the most skilled in-state senior forwards this weekend. This came from 6’9” Daniel Pauliukonis of Benet Academy and Meanstreets.
Pauliukonis entered the summer without a single division one offer. This quickly changed with his performances during the June live periods at the Riverside Brookfield and then Ridgewood Shootouts. He quickly added a flurry of offers in June coming from Toledo, Canisius, UIC, Western Michigan, Illinois State, and Miami (OH). Offers came later from Purdue Fort Wayne, Detroit Mercy, Northeastern, St. Thomas, and North Dakota State.
Southern Illinois had just offered him last weekend when he took a visit there. Pauliukonis called his visit to Carbondale, Illinois school “great.” When asked why he is committing so quickly after receiving his offer, he said “I wanted to commit there soon because I thought it was the best choice and I wanted to commit before the season started.”
“The main things I like about SIU is their coaching staff and their experience with college basketball also their play style,” the forward said on his decision. On his future playing for the Missouri Valley Conference program, “I see my game fitting there really well with their play style especially as a forward.” Southern Illinois is landing a mobile 6’9” forward with a well-rounded game who can really shoot the ball from the outside. Southern Illinois also has a commitment from 6’2” guard Luke Walsh out of Missouri in their 2025 recruiting class. This gives them two knockdown shooters to start off their recruiting class.