Kentucky freshman guard DJ Wagner set to enter transfer portal

Another piece from Kentucky’s 2023-24 roster has put his name into the transfer portal.

The latest player to do so is freshman point guard DJ Wagner, according to Travis Branham of 247Sports. The 6-foot-3 former five-star recruit averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 25.8 minutes per game for Kentucky this past season. He started 28 of 29 games played for the Wildcats, shooting 40.5 percent from the field, 29.2 percent from deep, and 76.6 percent from the line.

Branham says that Wagner will consider a return to Kentucky and will meet with new head coach Mark Pope soon. Wagner will also consider entering the 2024 NBA Draft.

Wagner is the second player associated with Kentucky to back off the Wildcats on Monday morning. Shortly before Wagner entered the portal, four-star high school point guard Boogie Fland asked for a release from his National Letter of Intent with UK. Like Wagner, Fland will also consider a return to Kentucky.

Considering Wagner and his family’s connections to former Kentucky head coach John Calipari — who is now at Arkansas — the immediate belief will be that the rising sophomore follows Calipari to Fayetteville. That being said, all options appear to be on the table.

This news comes the morning after Pope was introduced for the first time in front of a packed Rupp Arena crowd on Sunday afternoon.