Illinois Fighting Illini guard Keaton Wagler is so much more than a Big Ten Player of the Year candidate, or Freshman of the Year candidate. He’s a National Player of the Year candidate. Yesterday saw Wagler named to the Wooden Award Late Midseason Top 20 Watch List, as annou ced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
The 6-6 Shawnee, KS native is one of only two freshmen averaging at least 17 points, five rebounds and four assists this season.
Duke’s Cameroon Boozer is the other. Entering the 92-90 OT loss to Wisconsin, Keaton Wagler was leading the nation in offensive rating among players with at least 24% possessions used at 137.1
He also ranks seventh in the kenpom national player of the year ratings, and third among Big Ten players.
With Kylan Boswell and Andrej Stojakovic out injured, Illinois was only playing six players tonight, and you can see that the team was basically running on fumes towards the end.
Wagler did his best to will the Illini to victory, with his three point attempt at the buzzer falling just short. Wagler played 44 of 45 minutes, scoring a game high 34 points, on 12-23 shooting, 5-10 from 3. He also added seven assists.
Ratings.com described Keaton Wagler perfectly: “while he is a shooting guard, by definition, Wagler is a de facto combo guard. He plays a lot of point guard, so he brings up the ball and sets up an Illini offense that is much more than just the #1-ranked offense in the country, according to KenPom.”
The Ratings article then referenced the YouTube profile of Feed the Post, which informs us that Illinois actually has the highest-rated offense in the 29-year-history of the KenPom ranking and evaluation system.
The Illini offense has an architect- Tyler Underwood, the Assistant Coach and son of Head Coach Brad Underwood.
Tyler’s system is predicated on the three-pointer, as this team is always looking to get either layups or threes on every possession.
Those are by far the best and most efficient shots to take. The Illini try not to settle for long twos, which are the worst type of shots that you can get. In improving the team’s three-point shooting percentage from 31% last season to 36% this season, the results have been dramatically better.
And Keaton Wagler has the type of skill set that is perfectly optimized for this kind of offense.
He’ll be an Illini one-and-done this year, just like Kasparas Jakucionis (who was taken 20th overall in June by the Miami Heat) and Will Riley (who went with the very next pick, to the Washington Wizards).
You’ll see him in the top six in our next NBA Mock Draft update.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.