Dajuan Marquett "D. J." Wagner Jr. (born May 4, 2005) is an American basketball player who attends Camden High School in Camden, New Jersey.[1][2] He is the son of a former professional basketball player Dajuan Wagner and grandson of Louisville legend and NBA player "Ice Man" Milt Wagner. He is a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2023 recruiting class.
No. 21 – Camden Panthers | |
---|---|
Position | Combo guard |
Personal information | |
Born | (2005-05-04) May 4, 2005 (age 17) Camden, New Jersey, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Camden (Camden, New Jersey) |
Before high school, Wagner gave up playing football in favor of focusing on basketball, after watching video highlights of his father and grandfather.[3] His high school debut was highly anticipated, as his former middle school football coach said, “It’s like there’s this energy out there, everybody waiting for him to get to high school.”
During the summer heading into his freshman season at Camden, Wagner was one of just three Class of 2023 prospects invited to the USA Basketball July mini camp in Colorado Springs.[4] He was invited back to a second USA Basketball event several months later, before the start of the high school basketball season in New Jersey.[5]
In his first game, December 20, 2019, in front of a capacity crowd that waited more than an hour to try to get admission into the game,[6] Wagner scored 15 points despite missing 6 of his first 7 field goal attempts.[7]
Coached by former NBA player Rick Brunson,[8] Wagner helped lead Camden to 25 consecutive victories before the team's season was ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Camden earned New Jersey Boys Basketball Team of the Year honors by NJ.com.[9]
As a freshman, Wagner averaged 18.5 points en route to earning MaxPreps Freshman All-American honors.[10]
Wagner is considered a five-star recruit and the number one player in the 2023 class by ESPN .[11]
In the middle of his junior season, Wagner saw his ranking of number one player in the class of 2023 drop to third by Rivals after holding the reign of consensus number one pick in the class of 2023 for two years since 2020.[12]
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
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D. J. Wagner PG |
Camden, NJ | Camden (NJ) | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | — | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals:![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||||
Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 3 247Sports: 2 ESPN: 1 | ||||||
Sources:
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Wagner is the son of Dajuan Wagner and Syreeta Brittingham. His grandfather, Milt Wagner, was a second-round pick in the 1986 NBA Draft.
Wagner is seeking to become the first-ever third-generation NBA player.[13]
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