Dajuan Wagner happy 5-star son will be with family at Kentucky

Dajuan Wagner Sr. found himself in a can’t-lose situation with his five-star son’s college recruitment. It came down to two options, the Kentucky Wildcats and the Louisville Cardinals.

The former was led by Wagner’s former coach at Memphis, John Calipari, the man who helped lead the former Tiger superstar to generational wealth in the NBA. And the UK head coach had already signed Wagner’s stepson Kareem Watkins, along with his son’s former Camden High School teammate Lance Ware — two early chess moves on the Wildcats’ part. And then there’s the latter, led by Wagner’s “uncle” Kenny Payne, who had also hired his father, Milt Wagner, as the program’s director of player development.

Others tried to throw their hats into the ring, but since the spring, it was always going to come down to the two in-state rivals. And it’s exactly the way the Wagner family wanted it.

“I never stopped having a relationship with Cal. That never changed and it was never going to change,” Wagner Sr. told KSR in an exclusive interview in Frankfort following Camden’s win over Combine Academy at Kentucky State University. “This was always about what DJ was comfortable with — I was comfortable with both sides. Whatever he wanted to do, I was cool with it. And both sides were cool with it, they both understood. That just made it easier for us.”

Wagner, the top combo guard in the senior class, found his comfort in Lexington. Following several visits to the University of Kentucky, most recently for Big Blue Madness in October, he decided it was in his best interest to become a Wildcat.

A commitment came on November 14 during the early signing period, with the school announcing him as an official addition to the class shortly after.

“Just seeing how much they love basketball. When I went there on visits and everything, it just felt like I was at home already. I was comfortable,” DJ Wagner told KSR. “Coach (Cal), when I talked to him, he definitely made me feel comfortable and made me feel at home. The whole program made me feel at home, honestly. That environment definitely made me feel confident about coming here.”

Wagner couldn’t shake the atmosphere Big Blue Nation helped create inside Rupp Arena, one that brought him back to Camden, a school and an area where basketball roots are decades and generations deep. He wanted the college he played for to care about the game he loved most the same way he did.

No issue there in Lexington.

“It just reminded me of home, of Camden,” Wagner told KSR. “The way their people love and support their players, they all just love basketball. It gave me a home feeling, very comfortable. I was home.”

The five-star senior’s father — a former high school phenom, college basketball star and top-10 NBA Draft selection himself — cared solely about his son finding home, no matter where it was. Wagner trusted both coaching staffs to put his son in position to succeed and work to help him reach his dreams. The school itself was irrelevant — it was family vs. family.

“It’s the same as it’s always been (with Calipari and Kentucky), you know what I’m saying? Same as it’s been — it’s family,” Wagner Sr. said. “I know he wants to help get DJ where he wants to get, make sure he keeps working hard. But that’s just like the other side would have, too. Kenny Payne is still our guy.

“I’m just happy that he’s happy. Whatever it ended up being, as long as he was happy, I was good. Either way, I was comfortable. It’s family, there is family on both sides. Whatever decision he made, I was cool with it.”

“He was going to be proud of me regardless of the school I went to,” Wagner Jr. said of his dad. “He was proud throughout the whole process of me, no matter what school I went to. But he’s very happy for me.”

Decision made, signed, sealed and delivered. John Calipari’s prized target, the five-star legacy recruit known for his winning mindset and killer instinct, is set to make his way to Lexington this summer. And he’ll have family there to welcome him home and make the transition to college life a seamless one.

For that, Wagner Sr. is grateful.

“I’m excited for all of them,” he said. “His brother (Kareem Watkins), Lance (Ware), Aaron (Bradshaw), they’re all going to be together and lean on each other. It’s family, and they’ve been family. Camden High is a family, they’ve all been supporting each other forever.

“They actually lean on each other, it’s not just like going to a college with new people. They’ve been together since they were kids, coming here since they were kids. That’s an easy transition.”

And those are just the familiar faces, Calipari included. Wagner is also bringing some of the best talent high school basketball has to offer with him, with Kentucky signing the No. 1 recruiting class in 2023. The five-star guard will be joined by Camden teammate and fellow top-five recruit Aaron Bradshaw, top-10 signees Justin Edwards and Rob Dillingham, and top-40 prospect Reed Sheppard in Lexington.

It’s a collection of pieces the Wagners are confident will win games — a significant number of them, at that.

“I’m definitely excited to play with that group of guys,” the top-ranked combo guard told KSR. “That’s a great group to play with, we talk all the time. Aaron, he’s great, a great player, one of the best. That’s my teammate, one of the best in my eyes. Reed is a great player, plays together with his team. Rob, same thing, great player. We talk all the time. He’s going to fit in and we’re going to play well together. Then Justin, I played with him when I was younger, back in middle school. It’s going to be good and fun to play with him again. They’re all great players.”

“I think it’s a great class. They can really help each other out, make it easier for everybody,” Wagner Sr. added. “It’s not going to be just one guy trying to do stuff. If everybody buys in, I really think they can do something special.”

They’re all coming in with a win-above-all-else mentality, complementary fits across the board. And that’s a good thing — they won’t have a choice considering who their coach is at the next level.

Trust Wagner Sr., who averaged 21.2 points, 3.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest under Calipari at Memphis in 2001-02. The former No. 6 overall pick would know.

“I think they’re going to be great,” he told KSR. “(Wagner and Dillingham) are both great guards, they both want to win. With Coach Cal, you ain’t got no choice. You know what I’m saying? Everything is about winning, it all comes down to winning. Justin Edwards, Rob, Aaron, DJ, Rob, Reed, they all just want to win. They’re going to do whatever it takes to win.”

Individually, that’s the situation Wagner was looking for with his son. He wanted to see the five-star guard in a winning environment, surrounded by likeminded individuals focused on a common goal.

“We’re going to take it one step at a time,” he said. “He’s coming here trying to learn, trying to win. We’re not in a rush to get anywhere else, he’s just coming in focused. He’s ready to help Kentucky win ball games.”

That goal: No. 9.

“Really, it’s just about being as successful as possible, taking it game by game and winning as much as possible,” the future Wildcat told KSR. “Our end goal is most definitely winning an NCAA championship. That’s the goal, for sure, but it starts with working. We all need to be working from day one, staying in the gym. We’re definitely looking forward to that.”

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