Back in December, when Keaton Wagner’s name started buzzing in NBA Draft circles and the possibility of him being a one-and-done draft pick became real, the Waglers made a decision.
“We had one conversation with (his agents),” Logan Wagler, Keaton’s dad, said. “We don’t wanna have those conversations. We don’t want to know. We don’t want to get excited.”
Wagler went on to have one of the most surprising freshman seasons in the history of college hoops. A player with just three high-major scholarship offers in high school, who ranked No. 261 in his class by the 247Sports Composite, Wagler was a second-team All-American and the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament South Regional. He fully exploded onto the national radar with a 46-point performance in a road win at Purdue in January.
Finally, it was time to talk about it. So one week after the Final Four loss to Connecticut, Illinois coach Brad Underwood, his assistant coach and son Tyler Underwood, assistant Zach Hamer and strength coach Adam Fletcher flew to Kansas to meet with the family. Wagler met with his agents to go through his options one more time and said he made his decision then, but he took an extra day to make sure.
Logan and Jennifer Wagler waited all day for their son’s decision while he played “Guitar Hero” and watched some TV.
Finally, Wagler came down the stairs and asked his parents, “So do you guys want to know?”
Of course!
“I’m going to the NBA.”
