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Illinois Basketball Signee Keaton Wagler Wins Second Straight State Title

The Illini commit scored 17 points in the state title game to make Shawnee Mission Northwest back-to-back state champions

Jackson Langendorf

Feb 8, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood looks on during the first half against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Feb 8, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood looks on during the first half against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
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With high school basketball seasons wrapping up across the country this weekend – including the IHSA State Playoffs, which were hosted at the State Farm Center in Champaign – state champions are being crowned left and right.

One of them was Illinois signee Keaton Wagler, a 6-foot-6, 180-pound shooting guard from Shawnee, Kansas. Suiting up for Shawnee Mission Northwest, Wagler led his squad to its second straight Kansas state championship.

Scoring 17 points, including 13 in the second half, Wagler helped push his Cougars to a 63-56 win over Olathe North to clinch the state title. With that victory, Shawnee Mission Northwest finished its campaign 22-3.

After a 25-0 junior season that also resulted in a state championship, Wagler finished his final two high school seasons with 47 victories and just three losses, with a pair of state titles.

A class of 2025 prospect, Wagler will now set his sights on Champaign, where he’ll be taking his talents in the fall. Listed as the top recruit in the state of Kansas and the No. 25 shooting guard in the country (according to 247 Sports), Wagler is a smooth-shooting guard who prefers to do his work from beyond the arc and in the midrange – although he has shown some ability to get downhill.

Wagler joins fellow shooting guard Brandon Lee (No. 94 nationally) out of New Jersey as the only pair of Illini commits in the class of 2025.

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Jackson Langendorf
JACKSON LANGENDORF

Primarily covers Illinois football and basketball, and Kansas basketball, with an emphasis on analysis, features and recruiting. Langendorf, a third-generation University of Illinois alum, has been watching Illini basketball and football for as long as he can remember. An advertising student and journalism devotee, he has been writing for On SI since October 2024. He can be followed and reached on X @jglangendorf.

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