The pain of losing in the Final Four is still pretty raw, but Illinois basketball now has to transition quickly into offseason mode.
Brad Underwood has done a great job with juggling on-court success and recruiting. It is so much tougher today than it was just a decade ago. With the Illini on the verge of losing so much talent this offseason, it will be interesting to see who we can pull in to fill the holes.
Keaton Wagler is going to be the biggest departure. It is a popular assumption that he is heading to the NBA, as he is a projected top 10 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Replacing him will be tough, but on Friday, a perfect option entered the transfer portal.
Joe Tipton of On3.com reported on social media that Jasper Johnson is entering the transfer portal. After one season at Kentucky, he is looking for a new home.
NEWS: Kentucky guard Jasper Johnson is entering the @TransferPortal, source tells @On3. ⁰⁰The 6-5 freshman and Lexington native is a former top-25 recruit.https://t.co/2uz0hxHWhv https://t.co/j2iVn1Bl82 pic.twitter.com/eELaFxHNQe
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) April 3, 2026
Coming out of Overtime Elite, Johnson was a five-star recruit and was ranked as the No. 21 player in the class of 2025. He was also the No. 5 shooting guard in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of Georgia.
Johnson took his fair share of official visits, and one of the stops he made was to Illinois. We were in the mix for his commitment originally, and now we get a second chance at this talented guard.
It would be a smooth transition from Keaton Wagler to Jasper Johnson for the Illinois basketball program
Replacing Wagler is going to be so hard. He was an All-American. Those don’t just grow on trees. What is great is that players like Johnson can see what Underwood has done with player development, and that has to be enticing.
Johnson would bring a very similar game to that of Wagler. He has good handles and is smooth with the basketball. Both players create their own shots well. I think Wagler is more of a point guard, but Johnson can hold his own as a distributor.
I don’t put too much stock into Johnson not playing a ton at Kentucky. The Wildcats were a mess this past season. He still managed to average 4.9 points, 1.6 assists, and 1.1 rebounds in 12 minutes per game.
What piques my interest is that he took 2.6 three-pointers in 12 minutes and hit them at a clip of 34.1%. He is the definition of a combo-guard.
It is sad that Illinois is likely only getting one season of Wagler. I wish he would stay another year. But Johnson would be a nice, simple transition from Wagler. I would keep an eye on this transfer portal recruitment.