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He’s not Cameron Boozer… or AJ Dybantsa… or Darryn Peterson… or Caleb Wilson.
But if your team just picked up Keaton Wagler, congratulations. You have a star.
The third one-and-done at Illinois in two seasons, Wagler rose from unheralded prospect with few high-major offers, to arguably the nation’s best player at some points in the final three months of the season.
Let’s start with his scoring. You just got a machine on offense. If you followed Illinois in recent seasons, you know how dangerous this offense has been (run by offensive coordinator — and soon-to-be head coach somewhere — Tyler Underwood). Wagler was dangerous on the pick-and-roll with some of Illinois’ best forwards and centers, and he always seemed to know how to find his own shot.
We saw all of that on display back in January when Wagler walked into Mackey Arena for the first time and put up 46 points — the most-ever by a visitor at Purdue. It’s the manner in which he did it that was most impressive: 13-of-17 from the field; 9-of-11 from three; 11-of-13 from the charity stripe.
While he never matched that scoring output again in his freshman year, it’s a sign of what he can be quickly in the NBA.
Let me note, also, that Wagler loved to win — and he loved to be humble. It felt Jalen Brunson-esque in how it was never about Keaton; it was always about the Illini. I strongly believe that’s what finally helped this team get over the hump and back to the Final Four, while recent iterations of Illinois (Ayo Dosunmu, Terrence Shannon Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis/Will Riley) couldn’t get there. This team was balanced, and it had a mature leader, even if he’s scarily young.
If there’s a concern, it’s that Wagler isn’t the biggest guy on the floor, even for a guard. His frame was slight, but he still showed the ability to get to the hoop and draw contact over and over again. Reminds me of a recent NBA Finals MVP who was told he was too small to be this good…
But, keep in mind, he’s only 19! He won’t be 20 until the week before the 2027 All-Star Game, and he’s already this polished. Not a lot of times that you get someone with this kind of leadership experience at this early of an age.
Forget about what the recruiters thought about him coming out of high school and into college. Keaton Wagler blossomed into a superstar in his only year in college, and I think there’s going to be some teams that passed on him regretting that down the line.
Kid’s a winner. Congratulations.
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