O’Donnell: Illini frosh Wagler sensational at Purdue — but what about March?
THEY DREAM ABOUT A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP in men's basketball at the University of Illinois in much the same way online daters dream about meeting a perfect “10.”
The Fighting Illini have been playing the game for 120 seasons. Since 1939, when the NCAA tournament started, they've made five trips to the Final Four.
The best Illinois finish came on a star-crossed St. Louis night in 2005. The Orange were krushed early with three fouls on center James Augustine but battled back to tie the title game at 70 with three minutes left.
Marvin Williams, Raymond Felton and North Carolina ended matters with a 5-0 run and the dream went back into the ouchy out bin labeled “deferred.”
There it has stayed.
SATURDAY AT PURDUE'S MACKEY ARENA, a wispy 6-foot-6 freshman named Keaton Wagler stepped on to the court merely a growing regional rumor.
Forty minutes and 46 points later, Wagler chest-bumped off. Brad Underwood's Illini had an 88-82 win against the No. 4 Boilermakers in one of the most intense host environments in college basketball.
Illinois was repeatedly on the ropes in the showdown and Wagler repeatedly yanked them off.
WITH HIS LITHE FRAME, he's hardly a power player. But he's smart and fluid and has a step-back jumper that would make prime-whiskers James Harden take note.
He wins basketball games. Wagler closed a four-year varsity career at Shawnee North Mission in suburban Kansas City with back-to-back Kansas state championships.
Between his final two years of high school and the current Champaign jam, Wagler teams are on a 64-6 cascade. He left no doubt about the ultimate 2026 goal in the gloamin' at Mackey:
“The ceiling is a national championship,” he told attending media. “This just proves we're a contender for that.”
THE VICTORY ALSO LEFT THE ILLINI (17-3) a contender for more national attention this week. They bounded up to No. 9 in Monday's AP Top 25, the fourth Big Ten team listed.
They were also No. 6 in NET rankings, a key NCAA barometer come tourney time. That would mean a second seed somewhere at rainbow's edge.
Wagler comes from a basketball family. He's the youngest of three. Both of his parents played small-college ball. Father Logan is now a director of parks and recreation in a suburb of K.C. Mother Jennifer teaches fifth grade.
A LUCKY OMEN FOR Underwood and program is that Wagler somehow wasn't snagged in the home-state netting of Bill Self and Kansas. Right now, that's the way the rock chalk crumbles.
Underwood's Marches at Illinois have been more maddening than madness.
In five Big Dances, he's 6-5 and only made it out of the first weekend once. That came in 2024 when the stoically brave Terrence Shannon Jr. and Marcus Domask led Illinois to the Elite Eight.
But there, championship-bound Danny Hurley and UConn once more deferred the Big Orange Dream.
WAGLER AND CAST MATES GET some high-steam showcasing this week. They host Washington Thursday (8 p.m., FS1) and then travel to No. 5 Nebraska Sunday (3 p.m., FS1).
In Lincoln, beloved ex-Bull Fred Hoiberg awaits with a band of 'Husker overachievers including point guard-son Sam Hoiberg and Iowa NIL refugee Pryce “Is Right” Sandfort.
Wagler can only chase the dream of the Orange Krush one step-back at a time.
But as a national coming-out party, his Saturday at Purdue was as close to a perfect “10” as it gets.
STREET-BEATIN':
Sam Darnold's Seahawks went up as 4½-point Super Bowl favorites over the Patriots Sunday night. On the subject of divine intervention and the '25 Bears, the Chicago fortunate can only ask — what would have happened had the Vikings not discarded Darnold? A 14-3 season in MIN followed by 14-3 and an NFC crown in SEA would call for cosmic explanation by Neil deGrasse Tyson. …
Notable national consensus: Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt energized Fox's telecast of the Rams-Seahawks. (They're getting better all the time.) Jim Nantz and Tony Romo strained not to screw-up the snowy CBS coverage of Patriots-Broncos. That included Sean Payton's ultra-numb decision not to chip shot a field goal for a 10-0 lead in the second quarter. (They were droppin' 'em over that one at Ditka's Grill in Wheaton.) …
Landmark score for Cheryl Raye-Stout in May when The Chicago Headline Club honors her with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The resolute WBEZ-FM (91.5) contributor is in her fifth decade on the local sportscape. She soldiered through close to the start of that run as producer of “Coppock on Sports,” the WMAQ-AM (670) nightly windmill. That alone could merit an oak-leaf cluster on her plaque. …
Services were held in northern California for Nancy Rush, the widow of iconic “Gonnella” sportscaster Red Rush. Mrs. Rush faithfully followed her husband's bounding career through multiple stops, including the golden triangle of Los Angeles, Chicago and Oakland. Rush's departure to Charlie Finley's A's following the 1970 season opened the White Sox booth for a scrambling Harry Caray. …
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.