{"id":188662,"date":"2026-04-12T14:50:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T18:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=188662"},"modified":"2026-04-12T14:51:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T18:51:52","slug":"illinois-fighting-illini-targeting-2-guards-in-transfer-portal-following-departure-of-3-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/12\/illinois-fighting-illini-targeting-2-guards-in-transfer-portal-following-departure-of-3-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Fighting Illini Targeting 2 Guards In Transfer Portal, Following Departure Of 3 Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Illinois Fighting Illini<\/a> lost two players yesterday night, including projected top-10 lottery pick Keaton Wagler<\/a>, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Jeremy Woo.<\/p>\n

“Illinois freshman guard Keaton Wagler \u2013 ranked No. 5 in ESPN’s Top 100 \u2013 has declared for the 2026 NBA draft, his agency ProMondo Sports tells Jeremy Woo and me<\/span>,” Sharania tweeted<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Projected High-Lottery Pick Among 3 Fighting Illini To Exit Program<\/h2>\n

It is not a surprise that Waggler, who was one of the biggest surprises in college basketball, has decided to turn pro. A top-150 recruit, Waggler had a historic freshman season while also helping the Illini to the Final Four<\/a>. The 2026 second-team consensus All-American selection was one of three freshmen to compile 17 points, five rebounds, and four assists. He also produced three double-doubles and made 2.4 threes a game with shooting splits of 44.5\/39.7\/79.6.<\/p>\n

Wagler<\/a> set two Illinois freshmen scoring records, total points (663) and 20-point games (11). The Big Ten<\/a> Freshman of the Year and Jerry West Shooting Guard Award winner also set the conference freshman mark with 46 points against Purdue. Overall, he scored in double figures in 29 of 37 contests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe past year has been the journey of a lifetime,\u201d Wagler wrote on\u00a0<\/span>Instagram<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI never could have imagined what this season had in store for us. Our Final Four run is something I will cherish for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wagler is the third one-and-done Illini player in the last two seasons. Will Riley<\/a> and Kasparas Jakucionas<\/a> left after one campaign in Champaigne last season. Both were first-round picks in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Bob Donnan, Imagn Images\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Keaton Waggler NBA Prospectus<\/h3>\n

Waggler is seen as a tier-2 prospect who projects a NBA top-10 draft pick in this year’s draft due to his elite shot-making, positional size, and versatility. Waggler is rated as the No. 5 prospect in the draft by ESPN, NBA Insider Marc Stein, and ClutchPoints. The 6-6 wing is also rated as the No. 6 prospect by Bleacher Report, while Sports Illustrated has him firmly in the top 10.<\/p>\n

Waggler has just scratched the surface in his development. The 19-year-old can play 1-through-3 and possesses a good feel for the game. He is a good decision-maker who has shown the ability to create his own shot despite not having elite athletism. Defensively, he is long and active with outstanding instincts.<\/p>\n

Waggler does need to add muscle to his frame. His lack of athleticism is a concern, and he is still developing as a playmaker.<\/p>\n

“Wagler cemented his breakout season with a Final Four berth, as the primary driver of an elite Illinois offense that stalled out against an experienced UConn team. Although he had some ups and downs in the tournament, Wagler’s long-term upside was on full display,” Woo recently said. “Part of the appeal with Wagler at the next level is his ability to drive quality offense not only as a ball handler, but also as a tall perimeter player who can see over the defense and is constantly willing to make the next pass — a quality scouts loved about\u00a0Tyrese Haliburton\u00a0at Iowa State. Wagler’s ability to enhance lineups raises his NBA floor significantly, with his upside tied to how efficient and technical he can become as a lead guard.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Waggler’s NBA comps: Luke Kennard, Kevin Huerter, and Bogdan Bogdanovic.<\/p>\n

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Two International Players Enter Transfer Portal<\/h3>\n

In addition to losing Waggler, Illinois saw Mihalio Petrovic<\/a> and Toni Bilic enter the transfer portal yesterday.<\/p>\n

Petrovic saw limited action with the Illini, totaling 103 minutes in 19 appearances, and struggled mightily when on the floor. The 6-3 point guard finished the campaign with 33 total points, 21 assists, and 14 rebounds while shooting 33.3\/20.0\/83.3.<\/p>\n

Petrovic is a ball-dominant, rhythm-based creator who had a lot of success in the ABA before leading Illinois. The 23-year-old had a couple of good performances with the Illini — scoring 12 points UTRV and doled out five assists versus Alabama — but struggled with the athleticism and physicality of the college game.\u00a0 He was also hampered by a hamstring injury early in the season. He will have two years of eligibility left.<\/p>\n

“He’s stayed with it. He’s been very mature,” Illinois assistant coach Geoff Alexander told Illini Inquirer’s<\/a> Joey Wagner last month about Petrovic. “Obviously, he’s been kind of in a tough spot with the elevation of Keaton and some others. Just as far as an everyday attitude and coming to work. He’s been an outstanding teammate. Kind of the biggest thing is he’s gotten a whole lot better.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Bilic redshirted this year with the Illini after joining the program in December. The 6-8 Croatian was expected to use his time with the Illini this year to work on adding strength and developing his game.<\/p>\n

“He was one of those intriguing long-term pieces Illinois has come to value more in recent years: skilled, versatile, and full of developmental upside,” Pranav Hedge of the Illinois Fighting Illini on SI said<\/a>. “That makes his exit both a loss and, in a weird way, another opportunity.”<\/p>\n

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Brad Underwood Has SomeRecruiting To Do<\/h3>\n

Illinois is coming off one of its best seasons under 10th-year head coach Brad Underwood. The Illini went 28-8, including 15 Big Ten wins, and reached the Final Four for the first time since 2004-05.\u00a0 It was their sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.<\/p>\n

Underwood has done a fabulous job rebranding the Illini. Before this run, the Illini missed the NCAA Tournament seven consecutive seasons, though they were projected to receive a bid in 2020 before COVID hit. Underwood is 193-110 with one Big Ten regular-season title and two conference tournament crowns.<\/p>\n

However, Underwood now has to replace two starters and one key reserve as Kylan Boswell and Ben Hurichous exhausted their eligibility. Underwood carried 15 players this past season, but with the departures, the Illini currently have nine players, not including incoming freshmen, though there could be more movement. Players have until April 21 to enter the transfer portal. Three of the nine projected returnees saw sparse action this past year.<\/p>\n

“Brad Underwood put together a great team this past season,” Reese Woodcock of WritingIllini<\/a> said recently. “Underwood has mastered the transfer portal and roster turnover. Throughout the Underwood era, Illinois has landed some solid transfer portal talent. This offseason cycle could be on a different level, though.”<\/p>\n

While Underwood has to replace his starting backcourt, he projects to have four of his top-5 frontcourt players. Underwood has not signed a transfer, though he has signed four players in his 2026 recruiting class. Consensus four-star prospects. 6-4 guard Quentin Coleman (St. Louis, Mo.) and 6-6 guard Lucas Morillo (Dominican Republic) are the Illini’s top recruits.\u00a0 Six-four guard Ethan Brown (Rolla, Mo.) and 6-8 forward Landon Davis (Waukee, IA) are the other two players in the class. Coleman is the only one of the four to have not yet signed.<\/p>\n

What Is Left For Underwood To Do?<\/h3>\n

While Underwood has secured the commitment of two highly touted guards, he will likely have to add one or two veterans to help keep the Illini as contenders. Underwood could add another wing or frontcourt player via the transfer market or incoming freshman.<\/p>\n

One of the Illini’s top targets, per 247Sports, Travis Branham,<\/a> is Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell.<\/a> Branham said that Duke and Illinois are Blackwell’s top suitors, though Alabama, Arizona, UCLA, and Louisville are also believed still involved. He is expected to take two visits before committing<\/a> on May 4.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“Finally, we get to Illinois. There\u2019s the family connection \u2013 father, Glynn [Blackwell], played four years at Illinois \u2013 but more importantly, it\u2019s a dream fit from a basketball perspective,” Jackson Langendorf of The Fighting Illini said,d talking about Blackwell and the Illini fit.”There are few systems better-tailored to allow a guard\u2019s game to thrive. And considering Blackwell played the Illini twice, he likely recognizes that. Guards come to Champaign and see their NBA stock climb.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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Another name that keeps popping up in the Illini recruiting circle, according to Pleas Honeywood of Writing Illini<\/a>, is Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks<\/a>. Vaaks is a big guard who had an outstanding freshman campaign, averaging 15.8 points and 3.2 assists along with an effective field goal percentage of 52.2%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Illinois Fighting Illini lost two players yesterday night, including projected top-10 lottery pick Keaton Wagler, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Jeremy Woo. “Illinois freshman guard Keaton Wagler \u2013 ranked No. 5 in ESPN’s Top 100 \u2013 has declared for the 2026 NBA draft, his agency ProMondo Sports tells Jeremy Woo and me,” Sharania […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":188783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773,2,62,556,3],"tags":[49942,50411,3772,4136],"class_list":["post-188662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-news","tag-2026-nba-draft","tag-brad-underwood","tag-college-basketball-recruiting","tag-illinois-fighting-illini"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188662"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188784,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188662\/revisions\/188784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}