Freshman DJ Wagner stepping up as Kentucky's vocal leader

ZGeogheganKSR

DJ Wagner has never been short on confidence. You can see that almost immediately by the way he plays on the floor — fiery, aggressive, always attacking, willing to get into the nose of the opposition, etc. He is the pure definition of what it means to be a “dog”, even if we don’t have a true explanation for what that actually means. All we know is that his coaches and teammates won’t go a couple of sentences when talking about Wagner without mentioning him as a “dog”.

That confidence isn’t limited to the hardwood, either. It translates seamlessly into how he communicates with his teammates. Wagner is one of eight freshmen on this season’s Kentucky men’s basketball team, which has just two upperclassmen on the roster. It’s not that fifth-year seniors Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell aren’t great leaders, it’s more so that Wagner is someone who was born with natural leadership skills. He wants to win more than he wants to breathe, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to get his teammates to buy into the same lifestyle.

Which is why it’s not shocking to hear that Wagner has been Kentucky’s most vocal player heading into the 2023-24 season.

“The vocal guy, I would probably say DJ. DJ is very vocal,” Assistant coach Orlando Antigua told reporters on Tuesday. Antigua rattled off a couple more names, but he was quick to mention Wagner first and foremost.

Under head coach John Calipari, most of his best teams have been led by a freshman point guard. The lead ball handler controls Calipari’s offensive direction and flow. How successful a Kentucky team ends up being is usually reliant on how good the point guard is both on and off the court. If he’s quiet, afraid to share his voice, or even call out his teammates in a respectful manner, it doesn’t end well for the Wildcats.

But that doesn’t appear to be the case with Wagner. A good leader can make an impact on winning without putting up crazy scoring numbers.

That was the case in Kentucky’s first exhibition game last week against Georgetown College, a 92-69 win. Wagner finished with just four points — second-fewest of any Wildcat with at least 20 minutes played — and one assist on 2-9 shooting (0-3 3PT) in 27 minutes of action. But at the same time, the 6-foot-4 guard grabbed four rebounds, came up with a pair of steals, and didn’t turn the ball over a single time.

“There’s so many facets to the game, it’s not just your offense,” Antigua said of Wagner. “He’s such a complete player that one area of the game shouldn’t affect the rest of the areas of your game. You’re running the team, defending, calling out to keep us organized. Those type of things. I think he did a lot of good things. Lots of things to build on.”

Kentucky fans saw that version of Wagner up in Canada over the summer. The one that averaged 14 points and 4.8 assists per game. He’s in there somewhere, but a freshman is still a freshman. Growing pains are going to happen. That’s what these exhibitions are for. Don’t be shocked if Wagner gets into a groove during the Wildcats’ second and final exhibition on Thursday against Kentucky State.