DJ Wagner hits 8 threes, scores career-high 40 points in Camden win

DJ Wagner was showing off his range on Monday night.

In the second round of the Camden County Tournament in New Jersey, the Kentucky men’s basketball five-star signee exploded for a career-high 40 points as the top-seeded Camden Panthers cruised past 17th-seeded Winslow in a blowout, 114-46. Wagner drilled eight three-pointers to reach his first 40-point game and is now just 35 points away from hitting the 2,000-point benchmark for his high school career.

Wagner is also now seventh in Camden history in most points scored, needing 38 more to surpass his grandfather, former Louisville guard Milt Wagner, who scored 2,003 points during his high school days.

With the landslide victory, Camden (20-2) moves on to the quarterfinals of the tournament where the Panthers will take on ninth-seeded Paul VI on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 10:00 a.m. EST at Sterling High School.

Wagner, who is considered the No. 3 overall prospect in the class of 2023 by the On3 Consensus, is teammates at Camden with fellow ’23 Kentucky signee Aaron Bradshaw, who is ranked No. 4 overall by the On3 Consensus. Those two are joined by another UK target in four-star ’24 shooting guard Billy Richmond, who earned an offer from the Wildcats coaching staff in late December.

Unfortunately, full stats from Monday night’s game were not made available. But if you watch the eight-minute highlight video above, you’ll see plenty of nifty plays from Bradshaw and Richmond, along with a handful of assists from Wagner. At one point early in the third quarter, Camden led 61-18.

All three of Wagner, Bradshaw, and Richmond were in the Bluegrass State over the weekend to take on Combine Academy (NC) at Kentucky State University where the trio shined in front of the Big Blue Nation. In the 80-57 win, Wagner (18 points) and Bradshaw (21) combined for 39 points while Richmond chipped in 15 points of his own.