By IlliniGuys Staff

March 31, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

It's not unusual for college freshmen to leave campus in the spring with more boxes and tote bags than what they came with in the fall.

Keaton Wagler may need a moving truck.

The Illinois freshman added another honor to his historic season on Tuesday, when the John Wooden Award named him to its 10-man All-American team.

Wagler has already secured consensus All-American honors with his second team selection on the four main honorary teams to go along with his Big Ten Freshman of the Year award and All-Big Ten First Team selection. That means he will one day have his banner raised to the rafters along the other Illini greats at State Farm Center.

The 6-foot-6 guard was just named the NCAA tournament South Region's Most Outstanding Player after recording a double-double in the regional semifinal win over Houston followed by a game-high 25 points in the win over Iowa on Saturday. That victory put the Illini in their first Final Four since 2005.

Wagler leads Illinois with a 17.9 points per game average while delivering five rebounds and four assists per outing. He set a Mackey Arena record for a visitor with a 46-point performance in a win at Purdue in January, eclipsing the Illini freshman single-game and later single-season scoring marks. His ten 20-plus scoring games ties the team freshman record set by Kasparas Jakucionis last year.

Other players honored on Tuesday: Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas), Cameron Boozer (Duke), AJ Dybantsa (BYU), Jeremy Fears Jr. (Michigan State), Kingston Flemings (Houston), Joshua Jefferson (Iowa State), Yaxel Lendeborg (Michigan), Braden Smith (Purdue), and JT Toppin (Texas Tech).

Wagler, one of five freshmen named to the team, leads Illinois into its first Final Four in 21 years. The Illini will face UConn Saturday night in Indianapolis.