Keaton Wagler Reflects on decision to come to Illinois

For Keaton Wagler, his record-setting night against No. 4 Purdue has gained him more national attention than ever. The stoic, star freshman for the Illini joined Big Ten Network for an exclusive mid-week interview to talk about his journey and his performance, and shared that the performance is finally starting to sink in.

“I mean, yeah, I would say that it has (become reality). A lot of people have been texting and calling me all the time. So yeah, it definitely has sunk in.”

From there, Wagler pointed to the circumstances that forced him into a larger role, and just how quickly his confidence took over his game once the pressure was on.

“I think my mindset was just knowing that one of our second-leading scorers (Kylan Boswell)  was out with an injury, and I knew that if we wanted to win this game, I had to step up in a big way. I got hot early, and it just stayed with me throughout the whole game.”

Wagler’s recruitment story is well known, but we haven’t really heard from Keaton’s perspective up until now.

Why Illinois?

Keaton replied, “Yeah every since I stepped on campus, it just felt like home. The coaches, last year’s players, and even the community all welcomed me. They have one of the best facilities in the world. I just knew that if I came here, I could get better and strive for greatness and compete for a national Championship.”

Wagler has certainly become the face of a tough, versatile, and trendy Illini basketball team that has now won eight straight games. It has been a meteoric rise to stardom ever since coming onto campus in June. Keaton has taken advantage of all that Illinois has to offer and will eventually go down as one of the best freshmen in Illinois basketball history.

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