Illinois’ Keaton Wagler could extend crazy win streak that began at SM Northwest
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- David Birch, SM Northwest coach, has been contacted by NBA scouts about Wagler
- Wagler’s streak of not losing season-ending games carried into Illinois’ NCAA run
- Illinois benefits from Wagler’s shooting, poise and clutch play to reach Final Four
A lot of unknown numbers have been popping up on David Birch’s phone lately, but they aren’t spam calls.
NBA scouts have been contacting Birch, the Shawnee Mission Northwest boy’s basketball coach, to ask about former Cougars star Keaton Wagler. Despite being lightly recruited when he was in high school, Wagler has been a breakout star for Illinois, which will face Connecticut this weekend in the Final Four.
Wagler may not have been in high demand by college coaches, but an NBA team is likely to make him a lottery pick in the draft.
“For me, it’s probably easier to say who hasn’t called,” Birch said. “I have not heard from the Lakers, Knicks, Boston, Dallas, Toronto and the Clippers. Everybody else, I’ve talked to, 24 teams. I really talked a long time with the Bucks and the Warriors. Those are the ones that probably called me the most.”
If Wagler is picked in this year’s NBA Draft, he’ll be the first former Kansas City-area high school student selected since Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun in 2022.
Braun played at Blue Valley Northwest when Birch was an assistant there. Birch sees similarities between Wagler and Braun, who won an NBA title with the Denver Nuggets after helping KU win the 2022 national championship.
Both had a significant growth spurt in high school and rank among the smartest players Birch has coached. Each also works extremely hard and is a fierce competitor.
Birch shared a story about Wagler, the 6-foot-6 guard, ahead of Shawnee Mission Northwest’s 2025 state championship game.
“The night before he ends up getting sick. Mom and dad thought maybe it’s nerves,” Birch said. “He shows up in the morning, he had thrown up, and we’re like, ‘Oh no, Keaton’s gonna be out.’”
Birch’s mother is a nurse so he suggested to Wagler’s parents that perhaps medication might help. Or maybe a trip to a clinic. But Wagler’s mother, Jennifer, said Keaton didn’t like pills or needles, Birch recalled.
“She’s like, ‘Well, we’ll talk to him.’ Then they end up taking him to an IV clinic, and he gets an IV, gets Zofran, vitamins, the whole thing, he shows up to the gym for the state championship game about an hour and a half (before opening tip),” Birch said.
“I said, ‘Hey, are you all right? Can you play?’ He’s like, ‘I’m good to go.’ And then he didn’t come out for 32 minutes and had 17 (points) and nine (rebounds), and we win our second straight state championship. So that’s probably my favorite story about how he just won’t be denied.”
That grit has been on display as Wagler has helped Illinois win its first four NCAA Tournament games. That’s also continued Wagler’s amazing streak of not losing a season-ending knockout game.
Wagler finished his Shawnee Mission Northwest career as a two-time state champion. The last time he lost a season-ending game was as a sophomore, when Blue Valley Northwest defeated the Cougars in the state tournament.
“It’s been a while,” Wagler acknowledged, but he wasn’t interested in discussing the streak.
We spoke days after Illinois lost in the Big Ten tournament and the sting of the defeat was still strong.
“That kind of just showed us a sense of urgency, really,” Wagler said, “to kind of get prepared for this (NCAA) Tournament, and just to know how much teams are going to want to win.”
The Illini are two victories from a national championship and could be cutting the nets on Monday in Indianapolis. Wagler has been a key part of Illinois’ success, and he’s caught the fancy of many for becoming a second-team All-American despite being a three-star recruit in high school.
Birch thought Wagler had a chance to contribute as a freshman. Instead, he was the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year and the South Region’s Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament.
“I don’t think anybody, Brad Underwood, Illinois, his parents, anybody kind of expected this, looking like the Big Ten is the Sunflower League, basically treating it that way,” Birch said. “But I thought he would be good. I thought he’d find a role. Even back when he was a skinny freshman, he found a way to get on the floor just because he doesn’t turn the ball over. He shoots it so well.
“I thought he’d find a way on the floor, but my thought is, he’s find his way on the floor as like a sixth, seventh, eighth man, not the MOP going to the Final Four.”
Wagler’s success has tickled Birch and he can’t believe how history has repeated itself.
“It’s kind of surreal, because I was coaching the Blue Valley Northwest, we had Christian Braun, and he ends up going to KU, win a national championship, first-round draft pick,” Birch said. You’re sitting there as a coach like, ‘Well, this will probably never happen again getting a guy this good.’ And then not even six years later, we got a guy that’s almost as good.”
