After receiving his fourth All-America honors this season, Illinois freshman guard Keaton Wagler earned his right to see his No. 23 jersey hung in State Farm Center one day.

March 19, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — It is now a question of when and not if Keaton Wagler’s jersey will be honored by being hung in the rafters of State Farm Center.

By achieving consensus Second Team All-American status after being named to all four voting organizations’ Second Team lists (The Sporting News, Associated Press, United States Basketball Writers Association and National Association of Basketball Coaches), Wagler earned the right to part of an exclusive club of the honored jersey program surrounding the Illini men’s basketball program.

Wagler, who was also the 2026 Big Ten Freshman of the Year honoree and a first-team All-Big Ten Conference selection, is the fourth player since Illinois head coach Brad Underwood took over the program to enter Illinois’ honored jerseys program. He will be the 37th men’s player to receive the honor “It means the world to me,” Wagler said. “Growing up, you always dream of these things like having your jersey hung up in rafters. It’s really awesome to have it done, as a freshman too. It’s a big shoutout to my teammates and coaches for letting me go out there, trusting me to play my game, and have fun.”

Wagler will join consensus first team All-America selection Ayo Dosunmu, consensus second team All-American Kofi Cockburn and Illinois single-season scoring record holder Terrence Shannon Jr. as the only players in the last 20 years to be immortalized in the rafters. After committing to Illinois as an unheralded recruit, Wagler went on to have one of the best freshman seasons in program history as he enters this NCAA Tournament averaging 17.9 points, 4.4 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 40.2 percent from three-point range.

“I think it just shows how little scouting services know, but I think it’s also a tribute to him and his poise,” Underwood said Wednesday. “I watched Kofi play in a high school game where he had 2 points, and I watched Keaton play in a high school game where he had 2 points, and they became All-Americans in college. It’s not all about scoring points. It’s all the intangible things they become and the hard work.”

Wagler scored in double figures in 29 of 32 games this season and all three of those single-digit performances occurred back in November.

In Illinois' 88-82 win over No. 4 Purdue at Mackey Arena on Jan. 24, the projected lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft from Shawnee, Kansas, earned national recognition by pouring in 46 points on 13-of-17 shooting from the field, including 9-for-11 from three-point range, while going 11-for-13 from the free-throw line and adding four assists.

“Keaton’s worked very, very hard, and it’s fun when teams have success, some individual success can happen along with that,” Underwood said. “As his coach, I’m proud of him. I know how he’s raised and what he stands for as a competitor, and I have great appreciation for that.”

Wagler became the first NCAA Division I player over the last 20 seasons to record multiple games of at least 25-point scoring outputs games in road wins over Top-5 ranked teams. He combined for 74 points in the wins at No. 4 Purdue and at No. 5 Nebraska over the eight-day span from Jan. 24 to Feb. 1.

Wagler will lead No. 3 seed Illinois tonight into the 2026 NCAA Tournament when they face 14-seed Pennsylvania, the Ivy League Tournament champions, when the first round matchup tips at 8:25 p.m. CST on TNT.