Cheers and claps echoed throughout Shawnee Mission Northwest High School as alum Keaton Wagler was drafted to the Los Angeles Clippers.
On Tuesday evening, Shawnee Mission Northwest athletes, students and adults watched with pride as Keaton Wagler, an SMNW grad, was selected as the fifth pick in the NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.
“It’s just kind of surreal to think that I used to know that guy. I used to play with him, be teammates with him. We were at state together. I went to the same dance with him one time. So, it’s just kind of crazy to think that he’s at that high level. But he deserves it. He’s a great player,” said Jett Smith, a current SMNW basketball player and former teammate of Wagler’s.
At the celebration, Wagler placing high in the draft was anticipated, most people seemed to suggest. The question remained when he would get drafted and which team would do it.
On a table, different bowls were placed where people could vote which team would select him. They could also eat basketball-themed snacks and take pictures with a life-sized cut-out of Wagler while they reminisced about his time spent at the high school.
“I felt like the sky was the limit for him. But I think when you saw him play as a freshman, you knew he was something special. And then you just continue to see that all the way through his high school career,” Amy Niemann, president of the SMNW Boys Basketball Booster Club said to the Johnson County Post.
“We all knew he was amazing”
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During his playing for SMNW and beyond, Wagler slowly caught the eye of the national media and scouts.
A standout at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School before moving on to college, Wagler helping lead the Cougars to back-to-back state titles in 2024 and 2025 while earning Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year honors both seasons.
After graduating high school, he joined the Illinois University Fighting Illini men’s basketball team. In the 2025-2026 NCAA season, he was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-Big Ten, and led the team to the Final Four.
Watching Wagler on the big screen in the cafeteria, Smith said he flashed back to some of Wagler’s first moments on greatness as an athlete, like when he led the team with 35 points against the Chaminade Red Devils in 2025.
“We all knew he was amazing and he was like going to go (play in college), but that was when I was like, ‘He’s going to be something crazy. Like, not just a college player, but I thought he was going to be something special,” he said.
Wagler talked about the “chip on his shoulder”
Despite the hype Wagler built during his high school and college career, Wagler also felt overlooked.
Dan Niemann, Amy’s husband, remembers watching Wagler and feeling like he was being ignored by college scouts.
“Watching him during his junior year, he wasn’t getting any recruiting love, and I’m just a dad, I don’t know what I’m looking at. But I was like, ‘How good are these guys who are getting these major offers? What I’m seeing here is incredible.’ But he didn’t get those big offers until he got to Illinois,” he said.
In his post-Draft interview with ESPN, Wagler talked about the “chip on his shoulder” because of that and wanting to prove himself.
“It’s something that I can’t change my mindset with. I’ve got to continue to prove myself to show everyone that I belong here and can be one of the best players in this league,” he said to ESPN.
Gabriel Allen, Wagler’s former teammate, said he saw Wagler’s struggles firsthand of feeling underrated and now, hearing his name called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, got to see him push past that to the highest level.
“It was just crazy to see that he lived his dream going across the stage on the NBA,” he said.
SMNW athletes, parents express pride for Wagler
When Silver announced Wagler’s name, people in the Shawnee Mission Northwest High School cafeteria stood up, clapped and cheered.
Knowing that he came from the high school’s basketball program gives Smith a sense of pride.
“It’s just kind of an example message that you’re never out of it. Always just keep working,” he said.
While he didn’t coach him, SMNW boys basketball coach Corey Dahl said Wagler serves as an inspiration to others coming up in the school’s program.
“It’s great to have an ambassador like Keaton, somebody who was maybe a little bit overlooked and fought through that their career. It’s great. He was a great kid here for four years, and it’s awesome to see him rise up,” he said.
Watching Wagler since he was a freshman, Amy Niemann agreed.
“I think it shows a lot of kids that things like this can happen to them, that they have the ability — With hard work and with grit and with determination and a little bit of luck, you can be the next Keaton Wagler,” she said.
The support from Wagler’s friends, teammates and fellow Shawnee residents means a lot to Keaton and his family, Logan Wagler, Keaton’s father and the director of the Lenexa Parks and Recreation Department, said in a message to the Johnson County Post.
“We are beyond proud of Keaton and feel honored to be on this journey with him … He is very proud to represent his community of Shawnee/Lenexa and his path shows anything is possible with hard work,” he said.
Go deeper: Keaton Wagler honed his basketball skills in Shawnee Mission. Now, he’s set for Final Four stage
