Brad Underwood’s effusive praise highlights the most underrated part of Keaton Wagler’s game

Keaton Wagler’s unbelievable shot-making forced him into Illinois’s starting lineup early in his true freshman season. However, on a night he went 4-14 from the field in Illinois’s Sweet 16 win over Houston, he was still the Illini’s most indispensable player. 

After a 1-8 start from the field in the first half, Wagler found his rhythm, but the entire way, he was an excellent decision-maker in the pick-and-roll against Houston’s hard hedging ball pressure, an impressive defender in a physical game for his slim 6-foot-6 frame, and remarkably, for a team with multiple seven-footers, he was Illinois’s leading rebounder. 

Wagler won’t be in Champaign long. His shot-making ability will have him fly off the board in this summer’s NBA Draft. But every other aspect of his game has endeared him to Brad Underwood and etched his place into Illini history. 

“He’s a great listener,” Underwood said of his star freshman in the postgame press conference. “We knew that (Chris) Cenac and (Joseph) Tugler, they back-tap a lot of balls. They’re elite at it. So our bigs were going to have to hit bodies, but our guards were going to have to come clean it up.” 

That’s exactly what Wagler did, hauling in 12 rebounds as Illinois held Houston to its third-lowest offensive rebound rate of the season, its lowest in a loss (per CBBanalytics.com), and outrebounded the Cougars 43-34. 

Keaton Wagler’s shot is pretty, but he doesn’t shy away from the dirty work

“Keaton just takes everything to heart,” Underwood continued, “and he’s had some big rebounding games this year, but to do this in this moment, you guys have to understand what a joy it is to coach him. And he doesn’t worry about needing to score points. I thought his job defensively was equally as good, but his job on the glass,” Underwood said, shaking his head.

“Offense finds him, and he’s going to score some points, yes, but he’s always going to make the right play, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to win.” 

Wagler’s situation is unique, arriving at Illinois as an underrecruited three-star planning to redshirt, but it’s not uncommon for a freshman to lead a team in scoring. It is rare, however, for a young player to do all the little things that contribute to winning basketball from the minute they arrive in the college game. 

Cameron Boozer, the national player of the year, does them, and so does Wagler. So, it’s not a coincidence that those two freshmen have led their programs on deep runs in the NCAA Tournament.