Fighting Illini freshman Keaton Wagler was named the recipient of the Jerry West Award on Apr. 4, recognizing him as the nation’s top shooting guard for the season. The announcement came during ESPN’s College GameDay coverage of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Four, where the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame revealed this year’s positional award winners.
The Naismith Starting Five Awards are significant because they honor outstanding college basketball players at each position, highlighting their contributions to their teams and to collegiate athletics overall. The selection process combined input from selection committees with fan voting.
Wagler earned the honor over finalists Brayden Burries of Arizona, Isaiah Evans of Duke, Emanuel Sharp of Houston, and Solo Ball of UConn. He is now the third Illinois player to win a positional award after Dee Brown in 2006 and Ayo Dosunmu in 2021 received Cousy Awards. “This is such a tremendous honor; I am humbled beyond belief,” Wagler said. “I would like to thank the family of Mr. West and the Basketball Hall of Fame for selecting me from such a talented group of finalists who are all worthy of recognition as well. I give credit to everyone at the University of Illinois who have helped me along this path: my teammates, coaches, managers, support staff, and our fans. This is such a special season, making it to Indianapolis for the Final Four. I cannot wait to take the court with my teammates and represent Fighting Illini Basketball on the game’s biggest stage.” Previous recipients include Chaz Lanier (Tennessee), RJ Davis (North Carolina), Marcus Sasser (Houston), Myles Powell (Seton Hall), RJ Barrett (Duke), Malik Monk (Kentucky), Buddy Hield (Oklahoma), and D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State).
John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame said: “At the Basketball Hall of Fame, celebrating excellence in basketball, at every level, for both men and women, is at the heart of everything we do… We proudly welcome this exceptional group as the next generation of basketball’s brightest stars… It is our honor to officially name them the Men’s and Women’s 2026 Naismith Starting Five.” Other men’s honorees included Darius Acuff Jr., AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, and Zuby Ejiofor.
According to the official website, Illinois’ men’s basketball team has reached five NCAA Final Fours since its founding—most recently in 2005—and plays home games in Champaign while competing as part of NCAA Division I athletics within Big Ten Conference play. The program adopted “Fighting Illini” as its nickname. According to university records, it has also won multiple Big Ten titles throughout its history.
