Decision day is here for Wagner

May 11—One of the most highly-recruited high school football players to ever come through The News-Gazette's coverage area is expected to make his his college choice today. Sports Editor Matt Daniels analyzes the four schools St. Joseph-Ogden offensive lineman and four-star recruit Cameron Wagner is considering:

➜ Bret Bielema and Co. have time, location and recent success on their side. Illinois was the third school to offer Wagner a scholarship, doing so in June 2024. Two months before Wagner started his sophomore season at SJ-O. And well before 20 other schools joined the fray. Wagner has taken multiple visits to Champaign the past two seasons, a span where the Illini have enjoyed unprecedented success for their program by going 19-7 with back-to-back bowl wins against SEC opponents.

➜ The recruitment of Wagner took an even bigger turn on March 26, 2025. That is when Marcus Freeman and his staff offered a scholarship to Wagner, a little more than two months after Notre Dame played in the College Football Playoff national championship game. Ohio State, Mississippi, Florida and Indiana all then offered Wagner in the next 10 days. A national brand like Notre Dame, which seems to always be in the CFP mix under Freeman, is an enticing situation.

➜ Dan Lanning has built Oregon into a perennial national title contender, with the Ducks going a combined 48-8 in his first four seasons. Wagner has indicated he wants to go to a school that can compete and win a national championship. Oregon has reached the last two College Football Playoffs. The high-octane offense that Oregon produces is appealing to Wagner, and so is the relationship he has built with Lanning since Oregon offered Wagner a week before Christmas 2025.

➜ First-year Wisconsin offensive line coach Eric Mateos has made Wagner a priority since Badgers coach Luke Fickell hired Mateos in December from Arkansas. A few weeks later, Wisconsin offered Wagner. The school had shown interest in Wagner early on, with Wagner even visiting Wisconsin for a home game against Alabama in the 2024 season. But that interest has intensified in the past five months for a program that has built a superb reputation of developing offensive linemen.