Louisville hiring Danny Manning as assistant; picks up DJ Wagner prediction

Kenny Payne is adding another big name to his staff at Louisville. There are multiple reports this morning that former Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning will join Payne’s staff. A press conference is scheduled for noon.

Manning is the second member of Payne’s staff, joining former Duke assistant Nolan Smith, who was introduced on Monday. As a player, Manning is Kansas’ all-time leading scorer and was the consensus national player of the year in 1988. He got his coaching start as an assistant at Kansas (2006-12) before landing his first head coaching job at Tulsa. After two years at Tusla, he took the head coaching job at Wake Forest in 2014 and was with the Demon Deacons until 2020, when he was dismissed. From there, he joined Mark Turgeon’s staff at Maryland and was named interim head coach when Turgeon stepped down in December 2021.

Louisville picks up notable Crystal Ball pick for DJ Wagner

A rising star in Smith and a well-respected name in Manning. Kenny Payne now has one more assistant spot to fill, and the tea leaves are ominous for Kentucky fans. This morning, 247 Sports’ Travis Branham logged a Crystal Ball prediction for Louisville for DJ Wagner, the On3 Consensus No. 1 player in the 2023 class. Branham only set his confidence level in the pick at 6/10, but it only furthers the buzz that Milt Wagner, DJ’s grandfather, could join Payne’s staff in some capacity.

Kentucky has long been the favorite for DJ Wagner due to Calipari’s relationship with the Wagner family. Milt joined Calipari’s staff at Memphis in 2000 and in 2001, his son Dajuan, DJ’s dad, joined the team. After his freshman season, Calipari famously tore up Dajuan’s scholarship and pushed him to the NBA, which ended up being a blessing. Dajuan was drafted sixth and made $7.4 million on his rookie deal. A few years later, he was diagnosed with colitis and had surgery to remove half his colon, which eventually ended his NBA career.

Calipari is doing his part to reel in Wagner. Not only is Lance Ware, Wagner’s former teammate at Camden High, currently on the roster, Kentucky also offered one of Wagner’s current teammates, four-star center Aaron Bradshaw, earlier this week. Will that combined with Cal’s history with Dajuan be enough if Milt joins Payne in Louisville? I sure hope so.