Honestly confused after watching the highlight vid again... 11 shots, 4 of them at the rim (yeah yeah its a highlight film... but unsure what was in there that someone would be overly disappointed in... he shot a perfect 11 for 11 in the video
).
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Honestly confused after watching the highlight vid again... 11 shots, 4 of them at the rim (yeah yeah its a highlight film... but unsure what was in there that someone would be overly disappointed in... he shot a perfect 11 for 11 in the video
).
I'd say that's playing out as expected.
Why wouldn't it be Coleman? Don't love putting this together with glue and tape, as every CBB team needs a primary ballhandler and leader at the POA. I feel like that is exactly what outdid that 2025 Duke team, which may have been the most talented of this decade 2-5, yet had no PG and looked lost when the heat was on.
(We had an absolute gem in Keaton. His mastery of the P&R, vision, passing, ability to keep his dribble and not get sped up… wish we could had a 2nd year of him with another offseason of Fletch work. Add Keaton to this year’s team and we zoom up to preseason #1.)
But I’ll console myself knowing that Ayo, TSJ, Will Riley, KJ, and Keaton is the STRONGEST argument any program can make for being this decade’s Guard U.
That should help secure the services of players like Pettigrew and Bowman Jr. from HS and the portal for years to come.
But I’ll console myself knowing that Ayo, TSJ, Will Riley, KJ, and Keaton is the STRONGEST argument any program can make for being this decade’s Guard U.
That should help secure the services of players like Pettigrew and Bowman Jr. from HS and the portal for years to come.
I may see the fitting of this player puzzle together a bit differently from many others here. Brad recruited all these guys for their athleticism and skillsets. But that only involved taking the puzzle to the counter, paying for it, and getting it home.
Now, a completely different process begins. The staff must find out how these pieces fit together. As fans, we want 5 parts with an assumed skillsets for each one. But not a single player has a complete set of skills for their position. But they have some pretty elite skills that can be fit together, doing what they bring to the table very well, and do not need to be complete.
Having seen every season of Coach BU's tenure, he is pretty good at fitting pieces together to come up with a team that can beat anyone. Not being at practice or in coaches meetings/conversations, I have no idea where the plan goes...but I am pretty confident that this puzzle will be finished and present at an elite level before all is said and done.
Now, a completely different process begins. The staff must find out how these pieces fit together. As fans, we want 5 parts with an assumed skillsets for each one. But not a single player has a complete set of skills for their position. But they have some pretty elite skills that can be fit together, doing what they bring to the table very well, and do not need to be complete.
Having seen every season of Coach BU's tenure, he is pretty good at fitting pieces together to come up with a team that can beat anyone. Not being at practice or in coaches meetings/conversations, I have no idea where the plan goes...but I am pretty confident that this puzzle will be finished and present at an elite level before all is said and done.
Combine this with Mirk's injury and my expectations around this team prior to tournament time are really tempered..
Good news though: tournament time is 7 months away
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
What would people have said last year if I said Petro would barely see any playing time, Ty wouldn’t play at all and we’d have to have an unheralded freshman run the point? NIT? College Basketball Crown?
What if I told you Keaton was a once in a generation find as a barely top 250 composite recruit?
I don't think it'd be like that because it was apparent Wagler would start over Petro, at least in the 1-2 months leading up to the season.
Keaton came off the bench for exactly zero games last year.
And even before Ty got hurt -- Ben or Mirk were seen as the likely starters at the 4.
So, neither of them were the likeliest starters.
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HIs role could be more similar to Plummer than Keaton. (which is still a VG player)
Honestly confused after watching the highlight vid again... 11 shots, 4 of them at the rim (yeah yeah its a highlight film... but unsure what was in there that someone would be overly disappointed in... he shot a perfect 11 for 11 in the video
Even though these were just highlights I think some of these Negative Nancie’s should go back and look at more film from last year at Providence and also at the Fiba games. I have no idea how this video has become such a negative. Hell , even the Sleeper Guys were over the top enthusiastic. I’ll trust Team Underwood over these amateur wanna be coaches.
I think he’ll be fine. More than fine,
Keaton wasn’t the primary ball handler until after the UConn loss. While reports of him being a major surprise were starting to emerge last August, no one was saying, “That’s our PG.”
Vaaks is just getting his feet wet. Obviously, many of these dudes played together last year, but all the freshmen have been there all summer too. He was in Europe for a few weeks. It’s not surprising he’s a little behind the curve relative to his teammates, but he’s uber talented and has played a full season of high major basketball in the US. The tape shows he can get there.
I gotta believe it will start clicking before October.
Lets go back to August 2025-26 Illini thread.
People are talking about Wagler maybe being a good 6th man. There's a Werner update in there talking about Wagler could be the best freshman and push for a 6th man role.
Then, lets go back to when Ty got hurt (June 16, 2025)
People are talking about how Mirk and Ben will have to step up because we just lost a starter at forward. Most everyone still hated Ben at this point (and also there are actually a couple of comments pointing out correctly that Ty was a guard/ballhandler and not a PF).
IlliniInquirer pod on Oct. 4th.
19:23 — Petrovic talk
23:36 — Wagler hype talk
Notable quotes include:
• “Is he gonna start, I don’t know if that’s guaranteed.” (Petrovic)
• “People out there like, ‘Jeremy, Kyle if Petrovic doesn’t start who would it be?’ … The Keaton Wagler hype, the train, has left the station. The secret is out, on Keaton Wagler.”
• “(Wagler) pushing for a starting spot.”
• “Reason for real excitement for what Keaton Wagler can do.”
• overall talking points: 1) dissecting all the different things Underwood and Boswell said about Wagler. 2) lesser expectations for Petrovic than when he first committed; acclimation process, language barrier, but potential to work himself into an Andre Curbelo type.
…..
That, on top of the fact that Petrovic started exactly zero games over Wagler during the season — tells me Keaton had the starting spot locked up in the weeks and months beforehand.
This is from October 4th.
October is still 2 months away, and your quotes still don't have Wagler penciled in as a starter.
Proved my point better than I did (appreciate the research, btw).
EDIT: Lets go even further to October 25th - Brad named Keaton as the backup PG to Kylan Boswell in his final preseason press conference
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I love Coleman but he seems like more of an off guard ... more scorer/finisher than creator-for-others at this stage of his development. He could eventually grow into a PG role but I didn't see that role watching the U18 games this summer.
“1. David Mirkovic, Illinois
In addition to being arguably the sport’s most entertaining personality, Mirkovic is also an incredible talent coming off a monster freshman season. He has a unique skill set offensively, capable of being deployed as a jumbo ballhandler who can create for others, dribble into post-ups and hunt mismatches all over the floor. And buzz out of Champaign is that he has made a massive jump this spring and summer, with Illinois planning to use him as its primary offensive engine at times.”I think the shooting keeps him on the court.
if nothing else, he can make his mark as a monster shooter.
I may be wrong but I think the nail in the Mihailo Petrovic starter coffin and the takeoff of the full-on Keaton Wagler hype train was MP injuring his hamstring during the scrimmage against Florida on Oct. 25, the same day as that press conference. Up until that point, I think it was believed (at least by outsiders) that MP had a really good chance at starting.
I'm not sure how much credence I would put behind this, but Borzello had MP starting at PG throughout the entirety of his preseason rankings, including the AP men's college basketball preseason Top 25 poll breakdown on Oct. 13.
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
I wish we could have learned this two weeks ago. If that were the case the panic could have started in July, thus increasing the total amount of panic.Panic in August?
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
I think for the coaching staff it was always Wagler.
For the outsiders, it was Petrovic.