After a stellar freshman marketing campaign at Illinois, Keaton Wagler now has his sights set on the professionals.
Wagler, 19, declared for the NBA draft on Saturday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.
Through 37 video games performed this season, Wagler averaged 19.7 factors, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.2 assists while taking pictures 44.5 % from the area and just under 40 % from beyond the arc.
Keaton Wagler shoots the ball during the second half of Illinois’ loss to UConn in the Final Four on April 4, 2026 in Indianapolis. Getty Images
The 6-foot-6 guard completed with the third-most factors in a single season in program historical past (663), incomes himself Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, alongside with being a consensus Second-Team All-American.
Wagler helped the Fighting Illini make their first Final Four look since 2005, and put up a 20-point efficiency on a shaky 7-of-16 taking pictures from the area in their 71-62 loss to UConn.
“I felt like I was settled in, it was just my shot was off, which happens,” Wagler advised reporters following the loss. “So I was just trying to stay confident throughout the game and keep shooting them. I felt like I’m a good shooter so I kept shooting them.”
Wagler added that, despite the disappointing ending, he and his Illinois teammates grew to become a true household over the course of the season.
Keaton Wagler dribbles up courtroom during Illinois’ loss to UConn in the Final Four. Getty Images
“Every day when you go through something like this with a group for this long, and you love them, it’s hard when it ends,” he added. “You know, when it ends, it’s just sad.”
Wagler, despite being broadly thought-about a top-10 choose in this 12 months’s draft, did not enter this season as one of faculty basketball’s high names.
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood, however, advised ESPN in February that he’s drained of the underdog narrative surrounding Wagler.
“I’m tired of hearing about his high school [recruiting] ranking, I’m tired of hearing about he’s 170 pounds when he got here, and he’s physically skinny and weak,” Underwood said. “He’s none of these issues anymore. If the story is that everybody missed on him, we didn’t.
“I’m tired of hearing that, too. We found him. He fit us. This is what college sports is all about, this type of situation.”
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