Wagler becomes the first former Illinois player to be selected in the top five of a NBA Draft since Deron Williams was picked No. 3 overall by Utah in 2005.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

June 23, 2026

Keaton Wagler will soon be moving to the second-largest metropolitan area of this country to begin his professional basketball career.

The former Illinois All-American selection was taken with the fifth overall pick on Tuesday night in the first round of the 2026 National Basketball Association Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.

The 19-year-old guard was a consensus second-team All-America selection, making him the first freshman the history of the University of Illinois men’s basketball program to earn consensus All-America honors after he led the Illini in scoring with 17.9 points per game while averaging 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists and shooting 40 percent from three-point range. He scored 20 points or more 11 times on the way to shattering the Illini freshman scoring record held by Cory Bradford and Kasparas Jakucionis. The 6-foot-5 multi-talented guard was on draft radar’s as a one-and-done prospect since a breakout performance on January 24 in West Lafayette, Indiana at Purdue when he scored 46 points in a win over the then-No. 5 Boilermakers. It was the most points ever scored by a Big Ten freshman and the most ever scored on the road against a team ranked in the Associated Press top 10 while also setting a Mackey Arena record for a visiting player. Once Illinois reached the postseason, Wagler continued his impressive performances in the NCAA Tournament as he led Illinois to the program’s first Final Four appearance since 2005 by being named the most outstanding player of the South Regional culminating in a game-high 25 points against Iowa to cut down the nets inside the Toyota Center in Houston.

Earlier this week, Wagler confirmed to reporters in New York City that he and his representation conducted workouts in front of management and player personnel staff of the Chicago Bulls, which owned the No. 4 selection in Tuesday’s draft but selected North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson, and the Clippers management but cancelled previously scheduled workouts with any other NBA franchise.

“After working out for Chicago and Los Angeles, the thinking there was that’s the fourth and fifth pick so after hearing from them, I just knew where I stood in this draft,” Wagler said Monday in New York. “I was convinced I didn’t need to go work out anymore but I was still meeting with teams that had picks lowering than number five. I didn’t need to work out anymore because all these teams have seen me play and know what I’m about.”

The story of the Shawnee, Kansas native arriving on campus expecting to avoid a redshirt for the 2025-26 season but immediately establishing himself to Illini coaches and teammates during summer workouts is well documented.

“Finding Keaton Wagler, who honestly, I had not known about when he was in high school, and finding a guy that’s going to be a lottery pick and going to a first Final Four in forever is incredibly impressive,” ESPN college basketball and NBA Draft analyst Jay Bilas said on June 18 in a media conference call. “I don’t want to say I’m surprised because I’m not, because I’ve known (Illinois head coach Brad Underwood) is that good all the way back to the old days. But I think one of the fun things to watch about Brad has been how he’s evolved and changed things as the game has changed. Not just the game on the floor but the environment around the game. He’s been in lockstep, if not ahead of it.”

Wagler’s selection marks the first time a former Illinois player has been taken in the top five of a NBA draft since Deron Williams went third overall to the Utah Jazz in 2005 and Wagler joins Williams along with Kendall Gill as the other former Illini drafted with top five picks. Gill went fifth overall in 1990 to the Charlotte Hornets before scoring 12,914 points in a 15-year NBA career.

After the Washington Wizards selected Brigham Young wing AJ Dybantsa with the top pick, the Jazz picked Kansas guard Darryn Peterson and were followed by the Memphis Grizzlies taking Duke forward Cameron Boozer, the son of former NBA veteran Carlos Boozer, with the No. 3 overall pick. After Chicago’s selection of Wilson, the draft intrigue essentially started with analysts questioning what Los Angeles would do at the fifth spot with the potential to either trade the pick or take one of the variety of perimeter options projected to that spot that included Wagler, Louisville point guard Mikel Brown Jr., Arkansas point guard Darius Acuff Jr. or Houston guard Kingston Flemings.

Wagler is considered a natural fit with the Clippers next to veteran point guard Darius Garland, who can handle point guard responsibilities while Wagler gradually develops similarly to when he arrived at Illinois and slowly took over the on-ball offensive responsibilities of the Illini team from Kylan Boswell. The Clippers, which have been owned by Steve Ballmer since 2014 and play their home games at the two-year-old Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, are in a transition of rebuilding with cornerstone star Kawhi Leonard turning 35 years old next week. The Clippers finished ninth in the Western Conference this past season and lost at home in the first play-in tournament game to the Golden State Warriors. The Clippers missed the playoffs this past season despite, according to Sportac, paying a $6,665,742 luxury tax fee but only have three players (Leonard, Garland and 29-year-old wing Derrick Jones Jr.) on the 2026-27 roster projected to draw a salary of at least $10 million.

The Clippers will have two second-round picks (No. 36 and 52 overall) when the draft resumes tomorrow evening.