Illinois May Have Another One-and-Done Player

Illinois may not have the same tradition of sending players to the pros as a handful of college basketball bluebloods, but over the years, the Illini have placed dozens of players in the NBA – and countless more in professional leagues around the world.

That's why it may have seemed a bit odd that, before this past summer, the program had never produced a single one-and-done – a player who spent one season with the team before jumping to the pros. When it happened, though, the Illini seemed to be making up for lost time, with 2024-25 freshmen Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley going back-to-back in June's NBA Draft.

Given the recent success of Illinois coach Brad Underwood and his staff in recruiting and developing talent, the wait for the next one should be shorter – and perhaps considerably so, if we're to believe the assessment offered by Underwood of one relatively unheralded Illini freshman.

Keaton Wagler: Illinois' not-so-secret weapon

Plenty of praise from players and coaches for #Illini freshman Keaton Wagler.

He's gained a lot of confidence after a productive summer.

"I don't really feel a lot of pressure... I just try to play loosely." @KeatonW34 pic.twitter.com/Wmn4MpHx4S
— Tristan Thomas (@TristanThomasTV) October 3, 2025

Keaton Wagler, a 6-foot-6, 180-pound freshman from Shawnee, Kansas, seemed to progress in leaps and bounds through his senior season of high school (leading Shawnee Mission Northwest to the second of back-to-back state titles) and immediately began turning heads after joining the Illini. Wagler quickly received telling endorsements from teammates, but it was Underwood at Thursday's team media day who put in perspective Wagler's immediate potential.

"We want to be careful, because he hasn't played a game yet. We just had two one-and-dones a year ago, and I didn't think they'd be one-and-done, and we put them on a stage, and they achieved at a very high level," Underwood said. "But Keaton's in that class."

How Wagler can make his mark as a freshman

Why had Wagler flown under the radar? It probably didn't help that he was a suburban Kansas kid who didn't get much national recognition. (247Sports ranked him the No. 150 recruit in his class and No. 260 in its composite rankings – not the typical profile of a one-and-done.) His thin frame might also have limited expectations.

"He's got to continue to physically grow with Fletch," Underwood said of Wagler working with Illini strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher. "But his problem solving. ... He's a great playmaker, but he's a better decision-maker, and when you get below the free-throw line and you have to make decisions in tight quarters around a lot of size, that's been very impressive to me.

🥷🥷 pic.twitter.com/rEBsPQQ89a
— Keaton Wagler (@KeatonW34) January 31, 2025

"And then he's an elite competitor," Underwood said, perhaps raising the bar even higher for Wagler. "He's very unassuming, very kind of quiet and stoic. Reminds me a little bit of Ayo [Dosunmu] when he was a freshman."

As much as any other skill or trait, Wagler will need to show resilience if he's to make the impact Underwood expects as a freshman. Serbian guard Mihailo Petrovic is a seasoned overseas pro who figures to start at the 1, and Kylan Boswell has the 2-guard spot locked down. Could Wagler play on the wing in three-guard lineups? In his handling of Riley last season, Underwood showed he's willing to make lineup and scheme adjustments to put his best players in position to thrive. It could just take some time for Wagler to force his hand.

"But he'll fight you, and he's been a great listener, a great learner, and really is pretty impressive from that side of things, day to day," Underwood said. "It's not just, have a good day and then usually two bad. You have to regroup them and get them back. He's pretty much handled that day to day. So, very excited about about his progress."