Kentucky Signs Top High School Guard D.J. Wagner, Resumes Recruiting Dominance Under John Calipari

Kentucky’s men’s basketball season ended in March in disappointing fashion. During the first round of the NCAA tournament, the No. 2 seed Wildcats lost, 85-79, in overtime to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s. The defeat came one year after Kentucky failed to qualify for the 2021 NCAA tournament and left a demanding fan base befuddled and angry.

On Monday, that dejection turned to elation as the Wildcats signed D.J. Wagner, the No. 1 recruit in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Wagner, a 6-foot-3 guard from Camden High School in New Jersey, has strong family ties to Kentucky coach John Calipari. His father, Dajuan Wagner, played a year at Memphis under Calipari before getting selected sixth overall in the 2002 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

D.J. Wagner also was intimately familiar with Louisville, his other finalist. His grandfather, Milt Wagner, won a national title as a player on the Cardinals’ 1986 national title team. Milt is now Louisville’s director of player development and alumni relations, but he couldn’t convince his grandson to join him.

D.J. Wagner is one of five high school seniors who signed national letter of intents (NLIs) with Kentucky. Three others are ranked as top 10 national recruits: Justin Edwards, a forward from Imhotep Institute in Philadelphia, is second in the 247Sports Composite; Aaron Bradshaw, a center and Wagner’s teammate at Camden, is ranked sixth; and Robert Dillingham, a guard who plays for Overtime Elite, is ranked ninth. Reed Sheppard, the other commit and a guard from Kentucky, is ranked 29th.

Not surprisingly, the Wildcats are first in the 247Sports recruiting rankings, just ahead of Duke, which has commitments from five top-25 recruits.

“I couldn’t be more excited about this class,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said in a press release on Monday. “We have five talented and dynamic players who have the drive and commitment it takes to succeed at Kentucky. They all know this isn’t for everyone, and they have welcomed that challenge and want to be pushed not only by our coaching staff, but by other really good players every day.”

Since arriving at Kentucky in March 2009, Calipari has become known as the best recruiter in college basketball. From 2011 to 2021, Kentucky had the top recruiting class in the country five times, according to 247Sports, and the second-ranked class the six other years during that time period.

During Calipari’s tenure, Kentucky has advanced to the Final Four four times, including winning the national title in 2012 and losing in the championship game in 2014. But the Wildcats have not made it past the Elite Eight since 2015, a stretch that could end this year considering Kentucky is ranked fourth in the AP and coaches polls.

For the high school class of 2022, Kentucky was fifth in the 247Sports recruiting rankings but still signed two of the nation’s top 12 high schoolers: guard Cason Wallace, who was ranked eighth, and forward Chris Livingston, who was ranked 12th. Wallace and Livingston, both freshmen, started Kentucky’s first two games.

The Wildcats have been active in the transfer market in recent years, too, most notably with reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe coming from West Virginia. Tshiebwe is recovering from knee surgery and hasn’t played this year for Kentucky, which plays again on Tuesday night against Michigan State in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis.

Other contributors on this year’s Kentucky team were also transfers, including forward Antonio Reeves from Illinois State, guard CJ Fredrick from Iowa, guard Sahvir Wheeler from Georgia and forward Jacob Toppin from Rhode Island.

Effective July 1, 2021, the NCAA allowed athletes to make money off their name, image and likeness (NIL), a policy that in theory could open up competition for high-level recruits, Instead, Kentucky has remained dominant, as has Duke and other programs who signed top talent before the NIL legislation was enacted.

Kentucky this year has signed four top-10 recruits for only the second time since Calipari arrived. The other time occurred in the 2013 class: Julius Randle was second, Andrew Harrison was fifth, Aaron Harrison was sixth, James Young was ninth and Dakari Johnson was 10th.

Wagner is the third No. 1 ranked recruit according to the 247Sports Composite to sign with Kentucky under Calipari, joining Anthony Davis in 2011 and Nerlens Noel in 2012.

“This was an extremely difficult decision that I went back-and-forth with for a long time,” Wagner told ESPN on Monday. “That’s why it took so long.”

He added: “Coach John Calipari was always straightforward and honest with me. He said he would be with me until the wheels fall off the car either way. And that meant so much to me. I’m coming there to win. Winning comes first with me and I want to help Kentucky win as much as possible.”