Final Four Player Rankings: Is Illinois’ Keaton Wagler the Top Star Remaining?

The college basketball season was dominated by a historically gifted – and deep – class of first-year players. But as tends to be the case in March, those players were slowly knocked out of the field by older, more seasoned stars and teams. Experience nearly always wins in the NCAA Tournament – evident in our Final Four player power rankings below (although two freshmen did manage to stick around). Without further ado:

Final Four player power rankings: Top five

Michigan center Aday Mara (15) yells in triumph during a NCAA Tournament Elite 8 game against Tennessee at the United Center in Chicago on March 29, 2026. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

No. 5 Aday Mara, Michigan

Offense is often the category given the most weight in these sorts of exercises, but Aday Mara – who, not for nothing, is a solid contributor on that end – does most of his work on the other side of the floor. And it is excellent work. His 2.6 blocks per game don’t do Mara justice as a defender. With his 7-foot-3 frame and superb awareness, he deters guards from even attempting to drive inside. And even bigs rarely try to put anything up in his vicinity.For his size, he’s also shockingly sound when switched on to guards, using his length to give himself a cushion and often working back into the play to reject a shot if beaten.

Offensively, his touch is unfathomably soft, and if he gets to his spot, it’s an automatic deuce. Between Mara’s scoring ability with his back to the basket and his severely underrated passing, Michigan’s best offense is often just dumping it into Mara in the post.

No. 4 Brayden Burries, Arizona

Freshman Brayden Burries, who shares backcourt duties with veteran guard Jaden Bradley (who was Big 12 Player of the Year), leads his team in scoring at 16.1 per game, and he has been quite efficient at 50.0 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from three. Burries is a knockdown shooter from beyond the arc (team-high 1.8 threes per game), a solid midrange shooter and a load going to the rack.

Always in control, with a buttery-smooth manner to his game, Burries takes what defenses offer. He is creative at the basket, can finish with either hand and off any footwork. Burries is a high-IQ, take-nothing-off-the-table offensive player who also excels on the other end (1.5 steals per game).

No. 3 Tarris Reed Jr., UConn

Entering the NCAA Tournament, even if someone accurately predicted these four clubs at this stage of the Big Dance, few would have expected Tarris Reed Jr. to wind up in the top five of our player rankings. Yet he’s here. And not on the edge – but well in the mix. There is no overstating how impressive Reed has been through four games.

The big man is averaging 21.8 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in the NCAA Tournament, and on multiple occasions he has put UConn on his back and dragged it forward. Extremely physical, savvy around the rim and with tremendously soft touch, Reed is a tough cover on the block. Defensively, he’s a shot-rejecting menace eagerly awaiting any opponent who dares to attempt a shot in his paint.

No. 2 Keaton Wagler, Illinois

There may not be a player who better embodies the “mature beyond his years” label than Keaton Wagler. Truly unflappable, Wagler is never sped up, nearly always makes the right play – often the boring one – and just so happens to also be a lights-out shooter (40.7 percent from three), both off the catch and the bounce.

Around the basket, he uses his size, length and crafty footwork to find windows to get his shot off – and he converts at a high rate. There isn’t much Wagler doesn’t do from an offensive standpoint (17.9 points and 4.3 assists). To top it off, he also takes care of the ball (only 1.8 turnovers), rebounds it (5.0 per game) and has blossomed into an impact defender down the stretch.

No. 1 Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan

Yaxel Lendeborg didn’t receive the Big Ten Player of the Year award for his ability to put the ball in the basket. Despite that being the most highlighted aspect of most players’ games, Lendeborg was so exceptional in other facets – passing, rebounding and defense – that his relative lack of scoring output wasn’t a red flag.

But in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, Lendeborg’s best skill, almost shockingly, has been scoring (23 points or more in the past three games). And he isn’t forcing it or taking an ultra-aggressive approach. He’s just playing his game. Lendeborg has hit three or more triples in each of the past three outings, as well. And he has also thrived getting downhill, on the offensive glass and, frankly, in every possible way there is to score the ball.

But those additional scoring duties haven’t kept him from still being the most versatile – and arguably effective – defender in the country, one of the top rebounders in the sport and a severely underrated facilitator (17 assists so far in the tournament). And, of course, he has turned the ball over just twice in the tournament.

Lendeborg, especially with Duke’s Cam Boozer out of the mix, is the single most valuable player remaining in the field – and there isn’t a close competitor.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/illinois as Final Four Player Rankings: Is Illinois’ Keaton Wagler the Top Star Remaining?.

Source link