Kentucky freshman D.J. Wagner always responds to coaching

Expectations were high for Kentucky true freshman point guard D.J. Wagner. The former five-star recruit comes from a strong basketball pedigree and is very familiar with Kentucky head coach John Calipari. Wagner was likely very aware of how he would be coached in college when the class of 2023 prospect committed to Kentucky.

Calipari has strong faith in Wagner. The young lead guard always takes coaching and then quickly executes on the floor. In the win over Arkansas on Saturday, Wagner had a stretch where he had to come out of the game because he was getting shots blocked at the rim instead of finding the open man. That changed after a sideline conversation with Calipari.

“You’re not doing that. You’re not playing that way. And then he went back in and he finished the game off. He’ll listen. He’s so coachable. Most coachable kid that responds to what I say to do,” Calipari said about D.J. Wagner on Saturday. “Does exactly it at a high level and really hard.”

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D.J. Wagner has started all 18 games he’s played in this season while averaging 12.0 points on .435/.310/.698 shooting splits along with 1.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals in 28.4 minutes per game. In SEC play, Wagner is shooting 51.9 percent from two-point range and has scored 14-plus points four times.

The young guard has shown improvement throughout the season. That improvement could continue as the freshman has embraced Calipari’s coaching style and responded to some adversity throughout the season.

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