Arkansas sophomore point guard DJ Wagner is coming off of a roller coaster freshman campaign which saw injuries derail an otherwise promising year. After following John Calipari from Kentucky in the offseason, Wagner is healthy and emerging as one of the team’s leaders entering this season.
Wagner committed to play for Calipari in Lexington as part of the 2023 recruiting cycle after a decorated high school career that earned him McDonald’s All-American honors. The 6-4, 195-pound combo guard averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 assists and 1.9 rebounds on 41/29/77 splits, but those number don’t paint the full picture of his freshman season.
Wagner suffered an ankle injury against Miami (FL) in November of last season, and it slowed him significantly the rest of the year. He missed the following game against UNC-Wilmington before returning for the next 10 games. Then, he missed three straight games in the middle of SEC play due to the same nagging ankle injury.
Speaking to the media in Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday, Calipari said that it’s not fair to say Wagner struggled all year when he was impressive prior to injury.
“Here’s what was funny — before he got hurt, I believe he was Freshman of the Week three times,” Calipari said. “Like, ‘Well he just struggled.’ No, he was playing great. Then he got hurt and he never really bounced back from that. He had a couple things … I think he’s healthy. I think he’s more athletic than he was.”
Kentucky was 1-3 in games that Wagner missed. Prior to missing a stretch of three games in SEC play, Wagner averaged 12 points, 3.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds on 44/31/70 splits across 18 games. Once he returned, his averages were down to 6.5 points, 2.6 assists and 1.8 rebounds on 32/26/91 splits.
As Calipari mentioned, Wagner is healthy entering the 2024-25 season and has a year of experience to build upon. Calipari believes his sophomore guard is more comfortable on the floor, and noted that he’s stepped up as a vocal leader for the Razorbacks during practice.
“The kid lives in the gym,” Calipari said. “He knows how to read his body now — when I need to step back, or when I can be uncomfortable and it’s good for me. But I’m expecting a lot from him. You want his leadership. When you walk into my gym, the voice you hear is his. That’s the voice you hear, which means he’s into his team.”
There’s no question the Camden, N.J. native has all the talent and work ethic to be one of the better players in all of college basketball. Calipari believes the next step for Wagner is to learn his limitations and “fail fast.” One thing Calipari believes should help him in that quest is Wagner’s knack for being coachable.
“Now, I want him to play. Do what you do. Fail fast,” Calipari said. “There’s some stuff that you did in high school that you can’t do in the SEC. Fail fast, learn, try it. After the third time, I’m looking, ‘Do you understand that doesn’t work now?’ I want him to go be who he is.
Unbelievably coachable player, maybe one of the best I’ve ever had. If you tell him something, he does it that moment, right then. And then I blow the whistle and say, ‘Do you guys understand? I just told him and look what he did. He does it. Will the rest of you catch up to this? Just know that whatever we’re doing is to help you as a player and help the team.”
