Illinois’ Guard Keaton Wagler Quickly Raising Draft Stock

He’s starting to earn real buzz.

Dec 13, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Keaton Wagler (23) and Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Sam Hoiberg (1) try to get a hand on the ball during the first half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

There’s been plenty of relatively unknown prospects announce themselves through non-conference play this college season, kicking off their NBA Draft cases in the process.

Among those, no player has done more for their stock in such a short time than Illinois’ guard Keaton Wagler. The 6-foot-6 Kansas product has gone from not being on radars, to shooting up boards and mocks with a quickness.

A lengthy, albeit spindly guard, Wagler's made his case with versatile offense centered around handling, shooting and touch, and it's earned him plenty of buzz in non-conference play. His most recent stock-booster came in the form of a 43-point beatdown of Missouri, where Wagler again led the Illini in points. He scored 22 in total, shooting 7-for-11 overall and a blistering 5-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Illinois freshman Keaton Wagler is an ELITE level talent 🔥

The 6-6 Kansas native was a 3-star out of high school and is playing like one of the best freshman in the country for No. 20 Illinois

22 PTS | 7-11 FG | 5-6 3PT | 8 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK pic.twitter.com/sV47v1WezA

— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) December 23, 2025

Even more, Wagler stuffed the stat sheet elsewhere, too. He grabbed eight rebounds in total, four of which were offensive, and dished four assists, with two blocks and steals apiece. 

He seems to have continued to earn the trust of Brad Underwood and co., handling the ball plenty and initiating offense when not spotting up for quick-and-easy triples. His success with Illinois is especially notable given how many talented upperclassmen they have. It would have been easy for a prospect such as Wagler to slip under the radar with Kylan Boswell, Andrej Stojakovic, David Mirkovic, as well as Tomislav and Zvonomir Ivisic, though he's stood out as potentially the best prospect of the bunch.

On the season, Wagler is now averaging 15.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 0.8 steals per game, shooting 46% overall and 43% from beyond the arc. He’s shown obvious prowess from beyond the arc, but enough on-ball funk to justify some fairly high looks at the draft.

For now, his stock likely stands around the mid-to-late first round, though he’s quickly gaining steam.

No. 20 Illinois is primed for conference play, where they’ll face off against No. 25 Iowa, No. 5 Purdue, No. 13 Nebraska, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 24 USC and No. 2 Michigan. 

With continually good play in the Big Ten, as well as in a potential NCAA Tournament bid, Wagler can continue to raise his stock. It would be easy to envision teams banking on his production even as high as the lottery, should he continue his upward trend.

The Illini will see one final non-conference bout against Southern, before taking on Penn State on Saturday, Jan. 3.