Mike.FarmerThu, March 12, 2026 at 3:08 AM UTC·1 min readNow that the college basketball regular season has ended, it’s officially awards season.
Three Illini stars—Keaton Wagler, Kylan Boswell, and David Mirkovic—earned All-Big Ten honors for the 2025-26 season.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWagler, one of the premier freshmen in the nation, was named to the First-Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshman Team. On top of that, he was unanimously selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
The projected lottery pick is Illinois’ first Big Ten Freshman of the Year winner since Kofi Cockburn in 2020 and the first Illini to be named to the conference first team since Terrence Shannon Jr. and Marcus Domask in 2024. Kasparas Jakucionis (2025) was the most recent freshman to be named to the conference’s All-Freshman team.
Wagler is averaging 17.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, and 4.3 apg on 44.7/41.0/80.7 shooting splits in what is being considered the greatest freshman season in Illinois basketball history.
His backcourt buddy Kylan Boswell was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team while also receiving a nod as an All-Big Ten honorable mention from the media.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBoswell is the first Illini to be named as an all-conference defender since Trent Frazier received the honor in 2022.
The Champaign native is averaging 13.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 3.4 apg in the final season of his collegiate career.
Joining Boswell as an All-Big Ten honorable mention (coaches and media) and Wagler on the Big Ten All-Freshman team is David Mirkovic.
The freshman from Montenegro has averaged 13.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg, and 2.5 apg during his fantastic debut season.
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