Kentucky is "firmly in the mix" for 5-star guard DJ Wagner

For years, Kentucky has been perceived as the overwhelming favorite to land DJ Wagner, arguably the top class of 2023 prospect and son of Dajuan Wagner, who was coached by John Calipari when he was in charge at Memphis. But over the last couple of months, unique circumstances over at Louisville have dramatically shifted the tides, and now the Cardinals are the frontrunner to land Wagner of his services.

With that being said, Kentucky is anything but out of the picture. Despite a slew of predictions projecting Wagner to land with Louisville, 247Sports recruiting expert Travis Branham is confident the ‘Cats are still heavily involved.

“Absolutely not. (John) Calipari is not waving the white flag when it comes to DJ Wagner,” Branham said Friday on ESPN680. “Honestly, the timing of Milt Wagner being hired and my Crystal Ball were just purely coincidental — had nothing to do with each other. Kentucky is firmly in the mix with DJ Wagner still and they’re going to remain in the mix until this decision is ultimately made.”

Think UK is out of the running in the DJ Wagner sweep stakes? Not so fast says @TravisBranham_ who was on moments ago with @TheOnlySweeney on The Take! pic.twitter.com/8a2Rht6oA1

— ESPN Louisville (@ESPN680) May 27, 2022

Branham was actually the one who sparked the Louisville trend. Once he logged a Crystal Ball for Wagner to land with the Cards on April 15, a total of 10 recruiting experts across On3, 247Sports, and Rivals have all since logged predictions that favor Wagner to choose UL.

However, even with the addition of Milt Wagner (DJ’s grandfather) to the Lousiville staff earlier this week, Branham is still confident that Kentucky is “firmly in the mix”.

This recruitment is probably going to get even weirder before a decision becomes clear.