Camden's DJ Wagner on the move after one year at Kentucky
DJ Wagner is on the move.
The freshman guard on the University of Kentucky basketball team plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, according to several media outlets including the Louisville Courier Journal.
Declaring himself available for the 2024 NBA Draft appears to be another option for the talented scorer, but that route appears unlikely. The deadline to declare for the draft is April 27.
The 6-foot-3 Wagner, a three-time Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year and 2,000-point scorer at Camden High School, started in 28 games (29 appearances) as a true freshman at Kentucky last season. He averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 assists and 1.9 rebounds for the Wildcats, who finished 23-10 and were bounced by Oakland 80-76 in a first-round upset of the NCAA Tournament.
More: Camden basketball star DJ Wagner headlines Naismith High School All-America teams
Wagner was named to the All-SEC Freshman team and was the conference’s Freshman of the Week three times during the season. He had a career-high 28 points in a victory against Marshall and had a double-double of 18 points and 10 assists against Georgia.
Following the season, Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who coached Wagner’s father Dajuan Wagner at Memphis, stepped down from his position in Lexington to take the same position at Arkansas.
Fellow Kentucky and Camden teammate Aaron Bradshaw also entered the transfer portal earlier this month.
Wagner was ranked as high as the No. 6 recruit in the country following his scholastic career at Camden. He led the Panthers to a 96-7 record and the program’s first state championship in over two decades. He was a McDonald's and Naismith All-Ameircan.
Wagner finished with 2,040 career points at Camden, the third member of his family to achieve the feat with the Panthers along with dad Dajuan (state-record 3,462 points) and grandad Milt (2,003). He also was a three-time Courier-Post Player of the Year.
Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Camden's DJ Wagner plans to transfer after one season with Kentucky basketball
