To subscribe, click here
Sign up for our daily basketball newsletter here
HOUSTON — David Mirkovic moved nearly 5,000 miles to start his college basketball career. Keaton Wagler’s journey was roughly 12 times shorter from Shawnee, Kan., to Champaign.
But that’s just in miles traveled.
The similarities actually run deeper than you’d expect between the 6-foot-9 forward out of Niksic, Montenegro, and the 6-6 guard out of Shawnee, Kan. Something Mirkovic and Wagler discovered this past summer as basketball brought them together in Champaign.
A combination that has propelled Illinois (27-8) into the Elite Eight for the second time in three years.
Brad Underwood’s first trip to the Elite Eight in 2024 came with a veteran team build around a slew of fourth- and fifth-year players like Terrence Shannon Jr., Marcus Domask and Coleman Hawkins. The return this March has Wagler and Mirkovic front and center — the Illini’s top two scorers who are just as impactful as rebounders and facilitators.
“I found out we have some similarities in our personality,” Mirkovic said about meeting Wagler this past summer. “We’re both Gen-Z.”
“You guys are very much Gen-Z,” Illinois forward Jake Davis interjected.
“The second thing, we had a lot of similarities basketball wise,” Mirkovic continued. “We are pretty similar players — just different positions. Our understanding and IQ of basketball and our unselfishness and skill level makes us unstoppable.”
That’s been the case for the majority of the 2025-26 season. Wagler wound up Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a consensus Second Team All-American and is averaging 17.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists heading into Saturday’s Elite Eight game against Iowa (24-12) set for a 5:09 p.m. tip at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Mirkovic also made the All-Big Ten Freshman Team and was an honorable-mention All-Big Ten selection. His NCAA tournament effort — averages of 16.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and three assists — have solidified his place as Illinois’ best secondary option.
Both Wagler and Mirkovic posted a double-double in Thursday’s Sweet 16 win against Houston. No pair of freshmen teammates had ever done that in the NCAA tournament. Quite the journey from that summer get-to-know-you.
“I don’t even know what my first memory was, but definitely my first impression he was a goofy guy,” Wagler said of Mirkovic. “He likes to mess around, but within practices he’s super competitive. He’s one of the most competitive people I’ve met. He hates losing drills no matter what it is, and I knew we were going to get along after that. I’m competitive. I don’t like to lose.
“I think that we both learned you don’t have to be the most athletic or fast person on the court. You can play at your own pace and still be as good as anyone. We both do the right things, and we both want to win. It doesn’t matter if we score however many points. If we’ve got to go in and pass, get assists and get rebounds, we’ll do that.”
While Wagler and Mirkovic ultimately became the second-half catalyst Illinois needed to pull away from Houston and send the Cougars packing 21/2 miles back home, they weren’t at their best in the first half. Mirkovic had five points and six rebounds at the break but also a pair of turnovers. Wagler had four points and five rebounds but was shooting just 1 of 7 from the field.
“I thought there were moments they were sped up and missed some reads that they normally make,” Illinois assistant coach Tyler Underwood said. “It think it speaks to their character being able to come in at halftime and regroup and understand what they need to do better. They can pick that up so quickly. They learn from their mistakes, and they recover from their mistakes quickly.
“You rarely see them make a mistake and let it lead to another mistake. They don’t compound those. They have a great ability to be in the present moment and let those things go. I think (Thursday) night was a great example of that because I thought both of them left some things out there in the first half they wish they could have back. In the second half, I thought they both played fantastically, in the flow, and just let it rip.”
That’s been the case for Mirkovic and Wagler throughout their joint first season at Illinois. The moment has rarely been too big. The Illini freshmen have, in fact, embraced the biggest ones, like Wagler’s 46-point game at Purdue and Mirkovic’s record-setting performance in the first round of the NCAA tournament with 29 points and 17 rebounds against Penn.
“I think they’re two people that have done a great job of keeping the outside noise out of what they’re consuming, outside of what they’re thinking about,” Illinois forward Ben Humrichious said. “Never getting too high. Never getting too low. Two guys who have committed themselves to this program and the success of our program and this team. They’ve made selfless acts.
“It’s been fun the way they’ve grown, adapted and excelled. They deserve the success that they’re having. It’s really fun to celebrate that with them.”
