Kylan Boswell Raves About Illinois Freshman Keaton Wagler: 'He's Cold'

With Illinois bringing back senior guard Kylan Boswell, junior big man Tomislav Ivisic and 23-year-old forward Ben Humrichous, and adding top-35 transfer wing Andrej Stojakovic from Cal and Tomislav’s twin brother, Zvonimir, from Arkansas, the rest of Illinois’ offseason haul got a bit lost in the shuffle.International recruits Mihailo Petrovic – who was just officially signed – and David Mirkovic made some headlines, but the freshman trio of Brandon Lee, Keaton Wagler and Blake Fagbemi, comparatively speaking, hardly made a ripple.

Nowadays, in the veteran-dominated era of college basketball, only the five-star prospects typically find themselves in the mix for minutes during their freshman campaigns. And few expect any of Illinois’ true freshmen (Lee is the highest-rated among them, at No. 97) to produce much in Year 1.

But Kylan Boswell does. And although all three of the freshmen have impressed Boswell, one stands out.“Keaton [Wagler] surprised me completely,” said Boswell. “I feel like he’s going to be way more impactful than most people think.”When asked what jumps out about Wagler’s game, Boswell was straight to the point:“He’s cold, just flat out. He’s really, really good.”