The pinnacle of individual accolades in basketball is the NBA’s prestigious Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. And although Illinois’ freshman guard Keaton Wagler is far from climbing that mountaintop, his drawing a comparison to a player that has reached that apex would be noteworthy, at the very least – even when it comes from his (potentially biased) head coach Brad Underwood.
Nov 17, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) reacts after a play against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
If you hadn’t guessed the comp – look, it wasn’t going to be Denver big man Nikola Jokic – Underwood sees a lot of similarities between a certain herky-jerky, slick-scoring guard in Oklahoma City and Wagner.
“Keaton’s change of pace – I kind of compare him to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in terms of, he kind of kills you with slow motion sometimes and his change of pace,” Underwood told CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. “He’s a very good shooter. He’s very [heady] in terms of his decision making in the paint.”
Sometimes, and arguably often, Underwood gets a touch over his skis when praising his own players – which isn’t at all a bad thing. And we can all agree that Wagler, as an 18-year old first-year college player, is miles from SGA territory. But we can also understand what Underwood was driving at.
The players’ frames are quite similar, as Wagler stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 185 pounds (and will surely add some bulk in the coming months and years) while the NBA superstar Gilgeous-Alexander is 6-foot-6, 195 pounds.
Does Keaton Wagler really have bits of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in his game?
Nov 11, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Keaton Wagler (23) drives to the basket during the first half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images / Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
As for the game, sure, Wagler’s change of pace, slitheriness, creativity and footwork aren’t yet on the level of Gilgeous-Alexander’s, but the flashes are there.
Both players love to break down their defender before pulling out a spin fade. (Take a look at the video in the tweet just below.) We’ve also seen Wagler show off the deceleration step in traffic – which has surely been at least somewhat influenced by SGA’s use of that move.
Illinois 6’6 Freshman Keaton Wagler looks like an early potential riser in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Through his first three games Wagler is averaging 17/7/2 on 54/38/87 splits while being a major reason for Illinois’s 3-0 start.
Wagler has had a huge impact on and off the ball for… pic.twitter.com/L7T3jgkg4F
— KJ (@KJScouting) November 12, 2025
SKILL WINDOW pt.1
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA)
Usage of spin fade pic.twitter.com/K7MKKTwkIn
— Ondřej Hodač (@hodac_ondrej) September 19, 2024
To clarify, Wagler isn’t currently in the same ballpark as Gilgeous-Alexander. But then again, who is? Gilgeous-Alexander is the reigning MVP for a reason, and he does things that the NBA simply hasn’t seen before him. His combination of footwork, ball fakes, patience and instinctive scoring ability is unmatched.
SGA with a behind the right to left behind the back – hesi left-right tween into the step back shot fake step through
Reading that sentence is what people mean when we say his bag is deep pic.twitter.com/kwrF3BINDj
— Intuition Hoops (@IntuitionHoops) March 11, 2024
For Wagler to even be mentioned in the same breath, though, is a high honor. And, in time, as he continues to learn and adapt to the college game, who knows what Wagler’s game may look like by the end of the 2025-26 season and how deep his bag may become?
