INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The unexpected rise of Keaton Wagler — from just two Power Five scholarship offers to the No. 5 pick in the NBA draft — has the 19-year-old guard's head spinning.
“It’s kind of crazy just seeing how fast things moved, especially kind of being underrecruited and underrated,” he said. ”I didn’t think it was going to happen this fast."
Wagler was introduced Wednesday to about 200 Los Angeles Clippers fans on the court at Intuit Dome. The overhead halo board welcomed him. He was accompanied on the trip by his parents, brother, sister and girlfriend.
Wagler spent three days with the Clippers in a predraft visit.
“I saw how genuine they were — front office, coaches, players,” he said. “I just loved the culture that they have built. They have some young players and some veterans I can learn from. I feel like I fit in really well here. This is the place that I wanted to be.”
Wagler is moving from the Midwest, where he won two state championships at Shawnee Mission Northwest High outside Kansas City and helped Illinois reach the Final Four as the Big Ten freshman of the year.
“I'm super excited to get out here and kind of get out of the Midwest for a little and have some good weather for once,” he said, smiling.
College basketball fans in Los Angeles got a look at Wagler last season when Illinois visited UCLA and Southern California for the first time in decades.
Wagler had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a 95-94 loss at Pauley Pavilion. He grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to put the Illini ahead 94-93 before UCLA capped a 23-point comeback to win with 1 second remaining in overtime. He scored 20 points in a 101-65- win over USC.
Wagler chose No. 1 as his jersey number since new teammate Isaiah Jackson already wears No. 23, his college number.
“Just something new, first time in the NBA, number one, I think it goes well,” he said.
Now, if only people could learn how to pronounce his name. It's WAH-gler, not WOG-ler.
“I’ve heard it (wrong) ever since I was little and I still hear it today,” he said, adding that he gets “scared sometimes” of correcting people.
Typical of his optimistic outlook, Wagler said, “It'll get better as it goes forward.”
The Clippers certainly hope he does, too.
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