By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

January 26, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Let’s start this week’s edition with the big win at Mackey Arena over the Purdue Boilermakers, 88-82.

Some people in the Purdue camp are a little baffled as to why the Illinois players and coaches celebrated so much after the win. There are several reasons. Brad Underwood and Matt Painter both understand the significance of wins and losses between the two programs, recruiting some of the same players as of late for starters.

Don’t let anyone underplay the competition between the two programs. Since the early 2020s, Illinois has 89 wins, and Purdue has 88. The Boilermakers have made one Final Four; the Illini have advanced to the Elite Eight.

Every coach on the staff was extremely happy and showed a lot of emotion after the game. However, the most demonstrative were assistant coaches Geoff Alexander, Tyler Underwood, and Orlando Antigua in that order. Alexander, in particular, has been living his best life after the win, trust me.

I talked to Ethan Brown a few minutes ago. I’ll share some information here that will not be in my column. We were going to do a podcast, but his equipment wasn’t working properly.

Ethan Brown said:

“Let people think what they want about me. I am not Keaton Wagler, but you can best believe his path is like mine, and I use that as motivation every time I go out and play. What he did to Purdue yesterday made me want to go out there and beat Purdue myself I could not believe what I was watching. I was ready, ready. It’s funny, after my Illinois offers, other schools wanted to talk, sir, but guess what? It’s too late, and I’ll be playing with a chip on my shoulder you better believe when I get there.”

Logan Wagler, the father of Keaton Wagler:

Ked: “Hey, Logan are you ok today? It’s OK to smile. How proud are you today, buddy let’s hear it?”

Logan: “Oh man, I am beyond proud of my son and so happy for him. He’s loving this and living his best life. This team is the best thing for him. He loves his teammates and coaches at Illinois.”

Kedric: “Did you go to the game? Please tell me you got to see that performance in person, Logan.”

Logan: “Ked, we couldn’t go. We had plans to go. Everyone told us that’s a place you should see a basketball game at, it’s a great environment. We had to cancel due to the weather. We just didn’t feel safe about traveling. However, we couldn’t sit down. We stood up at halftime, cheering. That was an incredible college basketball game between two top teams going blow for blow.”

Kedric: “I talked to an Illinois commit (Ethan Brown) who told me he uses your son as motivation at times. What are your thoughts as a parent hearing that?”

Logan: “I want to say first, the fans and everyone we have come in contact with at Illinois, and the people who support the program have been incredible. We love being a part of the Illinois family.

It makes me happy to hear that about Ethan. We are proud that Keaton stayed true to himself and didn’t worry about rankings, shoe circuit, etc. I am so excited for him, and if nothing else, maybe Keaton’s journey can show others that anything is possible if you work for it.”