Is Keaton Wagler the next one-and-done prospect from Illinois Basketball?

Keaton Wagler is showing the world just how good he is. Wagler, a native of Shawnee, Kansas, had just two high-major offers coming out of high school, Illinois and Minnesota. With players like Kylan Boswell, Mihailo Petrovic, and Andrej Stojakovic on the roster, many questioned whether Wagler would even find the court during his freshman year. Fast forward to the start of the Illini’s Big Ten conference play, Wagler just played 39 minutes in a win vs Ohio State and is arguably the best player on the team.

Keaton Wagler is a few months under 19 years old, and is averaging 14.7 points and 5.2 rebounds a game and 37.6% from the three point line. Could this lead to Wagler being the next one-and-done prospect to come out of the Illinois Basketball program?

Verified Offseason Hype

Brad Underwood has never been shy about creating offseason buzz. He created plenty regarding Keaton Wagler, voicing that he is on the same level as Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley, two NBA players who were one-and-done’s in Champaign. Underwood also made some lofty comparisons between Keaton and Ayo Dosunmu, many thought this was just coach speak, but this is proving to be true.

A recent NBA Mock Draft by Jonathan Wasserman had Wagler going 29th overall. The mock drafts all compliment Wagler’s positional size and ability to play on and off the ball. He uses the Pick and roll extremely well. In fact, he only averages 1.2 turnovers per game despite having the ball in his hands a majority of the time. Last year, Will Riley averaged 12.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game and found his way to be drafted in the first round. Though this year’s draft is far more talented than the one this year, Wagler may have a case to be a surefire NBA Draft pick. If Keaton continues this strong play, look for these NBA draft talks to heat up as the season comes to an end.

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