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Brad Underwood gave the media over 15 minutes of his time during the Kendall Gill Golf Outing, speaking on how Illinois basketball freshmen Brandon Lee and Keaton Wagler have performed during summer workouts so far.

Underwood stated, “They both have been really well coached. I think their feel has been very very good.”

Underwood had high praise for Wagler, saying, “I have been very pleased with Keaton. He has great size at 6’5/6’6. We have done a lot of the same things we did with Will Riley with him, playing him on the ball almost exclusively. At this point we know he can really shoot but his passing has been tremendous.”

247 from October:

Brad Underwood knows he shouldn't go overboard in his praise of Keaton Wagler.

"I want to be careful because he's a freshman," Underwood told Illini Inquirer. "He hasn't played a game yet."

But the Illinois head coach and the rest of the Illini basketball program can't help themselves. They can't not share their excitement about the freshman guard from Kansas.

In the same sentence in which he said he wanted to be careful about hyping Wagler, Underwood said that Wagler is in the same class of prospect as Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley, who in April became the first one-and-done draft picks in Illini history.

Just a few moments later, Underwood said Wagler, as a freshman, reminds him of Ayo Dosunmu as a freshman. Yes, the same Dosunmu who was a two-time All-American at Illinois, who was the spark of Underwood's revival of the Illini program, who has a jersey hanging from the State Farm Center rafters and who is starting his fifth season in the NBA.