Right around when Illinois basketball practice started, and I was trying to figure out who was who on the team, I had lunch with my wife near campus. As we were leaving, Keaton Wagler and a friend were walking in. I knew who he was. He knew that I knew who he was. We exchanged “bro nods” and went our separate ways.
My wife asked me who that was, and I told her it was Wagler, a freshman student-athlete on the Illinois basketball team. I told her we did the head nod thing, so we were basically best friends now.
She rolled her eyes, and I let out a small chuckle.
As I began learning about the team’s new faces, Wagler didn’t initially catch my attention. I knew he hailed from Kansas and hadn’t been a high-profile recruit. I also mispronounced his name as WAG-ler, not WAHG-ler, but that changed quickly once the season began.
I thought he was pretty good and would get more playing time as the season wore on. Back in November, I called him the “X-Factor.”
Wagler began the season in the starting rotation due to injury, but played defense and hit shots when given opportunities. He struggled at first, recording his first bad game in a loss to Alabama with 8 points on 9 shots. The UConn game marked another turning point. He took only three shots and was a non-factor. Following this, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood shifted Wagler to point guard and retooled the offense, leading to a major turnaround for the Illini.
That early adjustment period soon gave way to excitement as the season progressed. So far, the highlight has been the most dominant road performances in college basketball history as Wagler and the Illini beat fourth-ranked Purdue last Saturday.
It was an extraordinary feat. Wagler’s performance wasn’t just impressive for a freshman or for an underrecruited player getting his moment: it was significant by every measure. When he erupted for 46 points, he sent shockwaves through the college basketball landscape, proving that Illinois might have something truly special brewing in Champaign. After the Purdue win, everybody knew how to pronounce his name.
With the Purdue game now behind him, Wagler’s story of being largely unrecruited and holding only a couple of scholarship offers will undoubtedly be echoed by every color commentator each time Illinois takes the court.
During early practices, the staff and team members could not stop talking about him. The hype train was over-the-top. Kylan Boswell met with the media and basically said he was the best player on the court. Most people, those who have not seen a minute of practice, thought it might have been a bit too much. As it turned out, Wagler was undersold.
The Fighting Illini entered Mackey Arena already missing Kyle Boswell, who was sidelined with a broken hand. Facing the fourth-ranked team in the nation on their home court, with a hostile crowd and a Purdue team desperate to avoid a second consecutive loss, Illinois needed someone to step up, and Wagler seized that opportunity when it counted most.
Actually, he took over completely.
He scored the first 14 points for Illinois, setting the tone with impressive stepback jumpers and tough crossovers that left Purdue defenders off-balance. The Boilermakers tried switching, putting big men on Wagler after screens to protect the arc. Purdue head coach Matt Painter essentially dared the freshman to score 30 or 40 points.
Challenge accepted.
By halftime, Wagler had 24 points, already surpassing his career high. His stoic demeanor, perhaps most impressive of all, never wavered. I can’t recall a single possession where Wagler failed to make the correct play. He ruthlessly exploited defensive switches and driving lanes. When no opening appeared, he calmly moved the ball, setting up teammates. Throughout, his calm, cool composure was unshakable.
This just doesn’t happen with 18-year-old freshmen playing in the Big Ten Conference.
His high basketball IQ proved crucial in the game’s final minutes. With Illinois entering the last four minutes trailing by four points, Purdue made an adjustment, sending two defenders at Wagler. He responded by calmly hitting the open man, which resulted in open threes for his teammates. Tomislav Ivišić, Jake Davis, and David Mirkovic each drained crucial triples off Wagler’s setups, swinging the game decisively in Illinois’s favor.
Illinois hit four threes in a row and shellshocked the home team.
When Purdue’s Braden Smith hit a three to cut the lead to two, everyone in Mackey Arena knew who would get the ball. Wagler didn’t disappoint. He dribbled down the clock, hit a tough midrange pull-up, and gave Illinois a four-point cushion. Two free throws later, and the celebration began.
The final line: 46 points on 13-of-17 shooting, including a school-record nine threes on eleven attempts. He was also 11-of-13 from the free-throw line. Teammate Jake Davis summed it up best, albeit colorfully: “When he got to like 24 in the first half, I was like, shit, this motherfucker… he’s making everything. We’ve got to keep getting him the ball. And we did.”
For Illinois, the victory was a statement. The Fighting Illini improved to 17-3 overall and 8-1 in Big Ten play, tied for second place behind undefeated Nebraska (that return match is tomorrow, February 1). The win marked Illinois’s best conference start since 2004-05 (the team that should have won the national championship) and extended its winning streak to nine games, the longest under Brad Underwood’s tenure. For the record, on Thursday, they beat Washington to secure win number ten. The Purdue victory also represented Brad Underwood’s 100th Big Ten win.
Will Keaton Wagler have another moment like the Purdue game this season? That’s not the question to be asking. The right question is, “How high is the ceiling for this team?”
As of today, many March Madness prognosticators have Illinois as a two seed, and I’m over here dreaming of a Final Four and a possible National Championship. There’s little doubt this team has the depth and versatility to make noise in March.
And I’ll be right there cheering my “best friend” on the court.
Be seeing you.
