Kentucky's lead in team recruiting rankings grows following DJ Wagner's commitment
Camden (N.J.) five-star combo guard DJ Wagner has made it official. He will be a Kentucky Wildcat.
The commitment caps off what could go down as one of John Calipari’s best recruiting classes at Kentucky.
Before Wagner’s decision, the 2023 On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking had the Wildcats as the No. 1 class. That is obviously still the case, but Wagner’s commitment has extended their lead and tied them with Duke for most five-stars in the class with four.
The Wildcats have verbals from five commits, four of whom are ranked among the top eight in the On3 Consensus: DJ Wagner, Philadelphia Imhotep Institute five-star small forward Justin Edwards, Rahway (N.J.) Camden five-star center Aaron Bradshaw and Charlotte (N.C.) Donda Academy five-star combo guard Robert Dillingham.
Wagner is the No. 6 overall recruit in the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
The fifth commit in the class is London (Ky.) North Laurel four-star combo guard Reed Sheppard, who is the No. 31 overall recruit in the country.
DJ Wagner is a huge commitment for Kentucky
In 2000, John Calipari earned a commitment from one of the nation’s top recruits, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard out of Camden, N.J., named Dajuan Wagner.
About 22 years later, history repeated itself. Calipari, now at Kentucky instead of Memphis, has landed another 6-foot-3 combo guard out of Camden, N.J.
DJ Wagner is New Jersey basketball royalty, the third-generation superstar following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps. Milt Wagner and Dajuan Wagner both starred at Camden High like DJ. Milt went to Louisville, where he won an NCAA title in 1986, and then won an NBA title in 1988. Dajuan, who scored 100 points in a high school game, spent one season at Memphis before heading to the NBA. He had to retire early due to health problems.
The Wildcats had been the favorites for DJ Wagner for a while but Kentucky did face some competition along the way, most notably from rival Louisville. Wagner and his family have a relationship with new Cardinals head coach Kenny Payne dating back years. Louisville also hired Milt Wagner to the basketball staff after Payne was hired.
But it wasn’t enough as Wagner has decided to play for Calipari and Kentucky.
“The first thing you notice about Wagner every time he steps on the floor is his competitiveness,” On3 National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw said. “He never ducks any matchup, and he brings it, on both ends, from start to finish.”
He currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $662k. The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.