NEWS: Illinois Basketball lands Elite Shooter in Keaton Wagler
Illinois Basketball lands one of the top shooters in the class of 2025
armchairillini.com
Nice to have one committed! Love his size, shooting ability, and pedigree coming from a state-winning program. I hope he makes it to campus.
I love that we can target players so that an entire coaching staff can't pry them away from the &Brad & Tyler led the charge here … Brad wanted him BAD … Brad & Tyler pushed HARD on the visit to get him … And got the job done …
Minnesota sent their entire staff after he got back from visiting here to try and close the deal but it was too late …
FWIW - he’s an IKG (Indy’s Kinda Guy) … Think he’s a sleeper in this class … Will need some time with the in the weight room but after that he’ll be a problem for Big Ten teams … Really reminds me of Cam Christie (and reminded Minnesota as well clearly) …
I love that we can target players so that an entire coaching staff can't pry them away from the &
First couple times I saw it, I couldn't figure out what the heck that many people were liking a post for. Usually only insiders get those kinds of numbers.As do you, my good sir.
I'm not complaining here, but after the Butler Fears situation I don't think I'll ever get excited about a high school recruit again.
I'm very much in the "I'll get excited when he's on campus" group. Even then it's a project type guy that is probably a coin flip to see him even play here as a sophomore.Based on the (lack of) responses here, you might be on to something. Wonder if people's recruiting juice is now going to be 80% portal, 20% elite, elite HS recruits.
Why does he shoot with his other hand?Here's one from 2 months ago:
lol I basically made the exact same comment on another Illini media a bit ago. Glad I’m not in charge of the recruiting matrix in this day and age, and thankfully there’s no reason not to trust the staff at this point.I'm very much in the "I'll get excited when he's on campus" group. Even then it's a project type guy that is probably a coin flip to see him even play here as a sophomore.
Not trying to be Eeyore here, but it's just the way HS recruiting is now. I'm really glad kids can move around and get paid, but it's also really hard to get excited about a team's future when it could be almost an entirely new team every year.
Glad to have Keaton on board and hope to see him make an impact!
Sometimes if someone IANAL, it’s not the wrong thread they’ve slipped into, it’s the wrong, well, something else.
Right. Not that I dont like the commitment, but I also liked the Fears and Butler commitment. Which is to say, isnt this the exact type of recruit we got a commitment from only to recruit over them in the portal and watch them leave. Which is to say the same type of upside recruit Chester was landing? My only guess, based on things that were said about previous 2024 recruits is that maybe Wagler is coming in without the same kind of immediate playing time expectations as the other guys and is willing to take the time to build his game and body and compete for playing time. More like a Jakstys? Or even DGL (who I might more excited to see on the court this year than everyone except maybe KJ).I'm very much in the "I'll get excited when he's on campus" group. Even then it's a project type guy that is probably a coin flip to see him even play here as a sophomore.
Not trying to be Eeyore here, but it's just the way HS recruiting is now. I'm really glad kids can move around and get paid, but it's also really hard to get excited about a team's future when it could be almost an entirely new team every year.
Glad to have Keaton on board and hope to see him make an impact!