DJ Wagner shares what his father told him about playing for John Calipari

DJ Wagner is walking into a somewhat familiar situation playing under Kentucky head coach John Calipari. After all, his father, Dajuan Wagner Sr., was a freshman phenom back at Memphis for Calipari, who helped him get selected sixth overall in the 2002 NBA Draft. Although Dajuan Sr.’s pro career was marred by injuries, he was still able to cash in and make some serious money during his short stint in the NBA.

To get the older Wagner picked sixth in the draft, Cal coached him hard, like he does all of his best players. The younger DJ knows that he’ll be pushed to the limit by his new coach.

“Oh yeah definitely, just how coach might be a little hard to me, like you said,” Wagner answered when asked about Calipari’s tough coaching style. He’s fine with it, though.

“But I talk to Coach about that, you know. I talked to Coach about it and coach talked to me about his expectations and stuff like that. So obviously that’s for — like my dad definitely told me about coaching when he played for Coach (Calipari) too.”

That prompted a question from a reporter who asked just how familiar DJ was with Coach Cal before he actually arrived on campus. Wagner answered that he’s known the UK head coach since he was a kid.

“Yeah I definitely knew him like when I was younger and stuff like that, just from coming up here I’ve been to … what was it called … the father-son camp when I was younger, so yeah,” DJ said.

Despite the obvious connection that’s often talked about between father and son now both playing college ball under Calipari, DJ Wagner doesn’t feel pressure to compete with that legacy. He considers it an honor just to play for a Hall of Fame coach who also happened to coach his dad.

“Ain’t no pressure, I wouldn’t say,” Wagner added. “My dad and my grandpa try to, I say, help me as much as possible with that. They always tell me just to not worry about that kind of stuff.”

From everything he’s said since moving into Lexington, Wagner seems to be appreciative of and undaunted by the opportunity to play for the same coach who his father was a superstar for nearly two decades ago. The new Kentucky guard is blazing his own trail and hoping to become the next Wildcat star at this level and the next.