Louisville picking up more predictions for DJ Wagner

Don’t look now, but Louisville is trending for DJ Wagner. A week ago, 247 Sports’ Travis Branham logged the first Crystal Ball prediction for the Cards, and in the days since, three more writers have joined him, including 247 Sports’ Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein. The Crystal Ball for the No. 1 player in the 2023 class is now split 50/50 between Kentucky and Louisville. Three Rivals publishers also logged picks for Louisville in the site’s FutureCast. The Cats still hold the lead for Wagner in On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine at 71.5%.

Yesterday, Finkelstein explained his prediction, which has a 6/10 confidence level. As he writes, it all comes down to whether Kenny Payne hires Milt Wagner, DJ’s grandfather, in some capacity.

The key variable to watch may be what Payne does with the rest of his coaching staff. He pulled Nolan Smith away from Duke in a what can be best described as a recruiting coup of its own, and one with similar family ties as Nolan’s father, Derek Smith, was a member of the 1980 NCAA championship team. Then the addition of former Wake Forest head coach, and most recently Maryland interim head coach, Danny Manning, added one of most experienced and respected figures in the profession.

While DJ told Travis Branham less than three weeks ago that he didn’t “have a super personal connection” with Payne, the rumor mill has nonetheless been churning that the third spot on Louisville’s staff could go to Milt Wagner — a move that could be a precursor to DJ’s commitment.

Kentucky’s ties to the Wagner family

John Calipari also has a relationship with the Wagner family, which is why Kentucky has long been the favorite for the five-star guard. 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 has been putting the pieces in place to bring Wagner to Lexington for years. Kareem Watkins, Wagner’s brother, and Lance Ware, Wagner’s former teammate at Camden High, are currently on the roster. Kentucky also offered one of Wagner’s current teammates, four-star center Aaron Bradshaw, last week. Here’s hoping it’s enough to hold off Kenny Payne and the Cards.