How Illinois' Keaton Wagler went from recruiting afterthought to Final Four lynchpin in just one year
Keaton Wagler was recruited by almost no high-major programs until Illinois got a tip about his potential and they followed up with a scholarship offer. Now, in his first season, he's one of the best freshman (and players) in college basketball and headed to the Final Four.
How Illinois' Keaton Wagler went from recruiting afterthought to Final Four lynchpin in just one year originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The kids at the top of the list – it’s OK to call them kids, right?
– earned every bit of the attention accorded them. Three of them received first-team All-America honors from the Sporting News. Four averaged more than 22 points a game.
More than a dozen populated the most prominent positions in mock NBA Drafts throughout the winter. The first in the entire class to achieve the Final Four dream, though, is the one almost no one wanted. Keaton Wagler was unknown enough that even by the time Illinois got to the NCAA Sweet 16, there remained some confusion about how to pronounce his name.
(It’s WOG-ler, which you’ll need to know because you’ll be talking about him a while. ) Everyone has known about Cameron Boozer and AJ Dybantsa for years. Darryn Peterson was one of this season’s biggest college basketball stories, because of his remarkable talent but also his periodic absences from the Kansas lineup.
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