Entire Kentucky coaching staff shows up to see No. 1-ranked basketball recruit Sunday
It didn’t take long for John Calipari to get back on the recruiting trail.
Less than 72 hours after the Kentucky Wildcats’ basketball season ended with a shocking upset loss to Saint Peter’s in the NCAA Tournament, the UK head coach was among those in attendance at the New Jersey Tournament of Champions finals Sunday afternoon.
The star of that show is DJ Wagner, the longtime No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class and the son of former NBA player Dajuan Wagner, who was Calipari’s first major recruit as the head coach at Memphis more than 20 years ago.
Calipari has made the younger Wagner — a 6-foot-3 combo guard from Camden, N.J. — his top recruiting priority for the 2023 class. On Sunday, he was joined by the entire UK coaching staff — Orlando Antigua, Chin Coleman and Jai Lucas — to see Wagner play the final game of his high school season.
The Cats have long been considered the heavy favorite to land Wagner’s commitment, though they are likely to have some familiar competition in his recruitment moving forward.
With Kenny Payne being introduced as the new head coach at Louisville last week, the Cardinals are expected to be major players in the pursuit of Wagner, whose grandfather, Milt Wagner, is a former U of L star and was teammates with Payne on the 1986 national championship team.
Calipari hired Milt in a support staff position at his Memphis program before Dajuan signed with the Tigers, and there have been rumblings in the recruiting world that the eldest Wagner could end up joining Payne’s staff at his alma mater in some capacity.
Such a move could upend UK’s perceived status for DJ Wagner, who is expected to seriously consider the Cardinals either way.
“Now, with Kenny Payne being hired, that is the one thing that can really throw a wrench into that whole plan,” 247Sports analyst Travis Branham told the Herald-Leader last week. “Obviously, DJ’s grandfather played at Louisville. There are rumblings that he could potentially join the staff with Kenny Payne there. So, if anyone is going to take DJ Wagner from Kentucky — from what it sounds, at this point — it’s going to be Kenny Payne at Louisville.”
Wagner also plays for a Nike league team directed by former Louisville star Pervis Ellison.
The UK coaching staff was also expected to take another close look Sunday at class of 2023 center Aaron Bradshaw, another possible Wildcats recruiting target from that group.
Bradshaw — a 7-footer in the junior class — is the No. 21 overall prospect for 2023, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
This story was originally published March 20, 2022 at 3:26 PM.
