DJ Wagner’s transition from top recruit to college fixture came with lessons: ‘Be grateful to play the game’

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As the Arkansas men’s basketball team trickled into its practice facility last Tuesday, Case Woolard tried to dash across the floor. The toddler son of Razorbacks general manager Chris Woolard had just spotted DJ Wagner lacing up his Nikes.

“He wants to high-five DJ!” an onlooker on the opposite side hollered.

A couple of years ago, that Wagner was on this court at all would have been viewed as a stunning career twist. The former Camden High School superstar was once the nation’s top-rated high school recruit, drawing standing-room-only crowds peppered with NBA legends at marquee AAU tournaments, then dazzling with his aggressive off-the-dribble scoring prowess.

Wagner looked poised to become the next one-and-done guard from John Calipari’s Kentucky program, which in the past decade has produced NBA standouts such as MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, perennial All-Star Devin Booker, and reigning Most Improved Player Tyrese Maxey.

Instead, Wagner is playing his second college season on a new campus, for an Arkansas team fighting for its NCAA Tournament life. Scour the 2025 mock drafts and Wagner’s name is unlikely to appear, even when projections stretch out to the full two rounds. He is averaging 10.2 points, 3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists for a Razorbacks team that is 15-11 overall and 4-9 in the Southeastern Conference.

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Yet spend a few minutes with Wagner after that practice session last week, and he projects a blend of levelheadedness and happiness. He is comfortable in his new environment, thanks to a slew of familiar faces, from the coaching staff and teammates he followed from Kentucky, to half-brother Kareem Watkins, to fellow Camden High product Billy Richmond III — who is in the midst of his own breakout stretch for the Razorbacks.

The next basketball step, Wagner says, will arrive when it arrives.

“I was just being honest with myself,” Wagner told The Inquirer of why he returned to school after a disappointing freshman season at Kentucky. “Even before college, I always said, it was never [the set plan] to go one year or nothing like that. Playing college, that’s something I’ve always dreamed of. … If I’ve got to stay there for four years, then I’ll stay there for four years.

“That’s something I never really thought too much of or got too bigheaded about. So it wasn’t really a hard decision for me to come back to school, because that was something I always had on my mind — don’t ever rush the process.”

Arkansas’ on-campus practice facility is on a street named after legendary coach Nolan Richardson and houses banners honoring six Final Four appearances and the 1994 national championship fueled by Richardson’s up-tempo playing style.

It is a place where John H. Tyson — yes, the billionaire chairman of Tyson Chicken and a Razorbacks megadonor — can casually pop by that Wednesday afternoon team workout.

And to a college basketball follower, it might still be a strange place to see Calipari, who spent 15 seasons at Kentucky but left last April, after the Wildcats were upset by 14th-seeded Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

It is also entrenched in a football-crazed SEC that has now become a basketball gauntlet, with a whopping 13 of 18 teams projected by ESPN’s Bracketology to make the NCAA Tournament as of Tuesday. The Razorbacks were initially swallowed by a brutal schedule, starting conference play 1-6. Tuesday morning, ESPN projected Arkansas as one of the last four teams to make the tournament field.

Though Wagner acknowledges that hilly Fayetteville is quieter than Lexington — and far different from Camden or the tristate area — the people still surrounding him mean “it really just feels like I’m at home,” he said.

The primary reason Wagner is here is because of his family’s long-standing relationship with Calipari, for whom his father, Dajuan, played at Memphis before being selected sixth overall in the 2002 NBA draft. Kenny Payne — the former Louisville coach who also heavily recruited DJ, played with his grandfather, Milt, at the school, and hired Milt to the Cardinals’ staff in 2022 — is back with Calipari as Arkansas’ associate head coach.

The three Kentucky teammates who also transferred to Fayetteville include Watkins, Wagner’s half-brother and a walk-on at both programs.

“It was a no-brainer,” Watkins told The Inquirer, one day after guarding Wagner as the scout-team point guard in practice. “We were going to follow Cal here, no matter what.”

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So Wagner’s trust in Calipari continues to run deep, even while being coached hard. During that practice, for instance, the coach called out Wagner for trailing the group during sprints. Later, Calipari, who was an assistant coach with the 76ers for the 1999-2000 season, asked Wagner to rerun a drill when his footwork was not sharp enough before lofting a lob pass, and when he did not finish a driving layup through contact.

“If he thinks you’re doing something wrong, he’s going to tell you,” Wagner said. “If you’re playing bad, he’s going to tell you. … It doesn’t matter who you are, what type of relationship you got with him, he’s going to be honest with you. He’s going to tell you the truth.

“So really just knowing I can trust him in that way, with him being honest with me and helping me become the best player I can be.”

Though always known for his wide array of crafty dribble moves, Wagner was criticized by outside evaluators during his Kentucky season for his shooting efficiency (40.5% from the floor, 29.2% from three-point range, 76.6% from the free-throw line in 2023-24) and subpar defense. Now, the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder has slid into the Razorbacks’ lead guard spot after a season-ending thumb injury to Boogie Fland, a projected first-round draft pick.

Asked where he has developed most this season, Wagner believes he now reads the floor better and does not rush as much with the ball in his hands, helping him record at least five assists in five of his past seven games games.

Razorbacks center Ivisic Zvonimir, who also played with Wagner at Kentucky, added that his teammate has improved as a defender and shotmaker — he has raised his shooting splits to 41.0/30.4/79.1 through Thursday — and exudes more confidence. Richmond calls Wagner “the heart of a team” and says he has “carried himself as a pro” since they first met.

Razorbacks associate head coach Chin Coleman echoed that sentiment recently, stressing that “for us to do what we’re trying to do in this season, we’re going to need for DJ to lead us.”

Wagner flashed those qualities in a tough 70-58 win last week against a struggling LSU team, during which the Razorbacks trailed at the break before pulling away in the second half.

He finished with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, with seven assists and three rebounds. He split defenders and exploded into the lane for layups — though hung his head back in frustration when a reverse attempt off a cut fell off the rim. He hollered out defensive coverages, crossing his arms into an “X.” And his over-the-top pass to Zvonimir for a dunk all but sealed the Razorbacks’ victory.

“We don’t even need to talk much,” Zvonimir said of Wagner. “We just look at each other and know what we’ve got to do. I love playing with DJ. He makes everybody better. He’s doing an amazing job.”

Yet the Razorback who “changed the game” against LSU, per Coleman, was Richmond — continuing an impressive run that has made the freshman the talk of the team because of his high-energy playing style.

During a crucial four-minute spurt in the second half, Richmond dished to Zvonimir for a three-pointer and a dunk, hit a baseline floater, and took an outlet pass all the way for a finish at the rim to prompt an LSU timeout.

“I’ll do anything, whatever my teammates or coach tell me to do,” Richmond told The Inquirer the day prior. “Because I look at them like family, like we all locked in. You do this for me, and I’ll do this for you.”

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Like Wagner, Richmond’s father, Billy Jr., played for Calipari at Memphis. Billy III grew up in that city before playing his final two high school seasons at Camden, where he developed into a four-star recruit, originally committed to Kentucky, then followed Calipari to Arkansas.

Fland’s injury means Wagner is now the Razorbacks’ backup point guard, after playing shooting guard and both forward positions earlier this season. He is working on changing speeds with the ball in his hands and weaponizing his “unbelievable fifth gear,” Coleman said.

But Wagner is a threat whenever he is in the open floor, such as when he got the ball on a fast break during Arkansas’ rally against Alabama in an 85-81 loss on Feb. 8 and “he just dunked it, and everybody went crazy,” Wagner recalled.

“Every time he gets in the game, something good happens,” Wagner said of Richmond.

Part of Arkansas’ late-season push included Wagner (and Calipari) returning to Kentucky, which the guard called “surreal” while totaling a season-high 17 points and eight assists in the Razorbacks’ 89-79 upset win over the then-No. 12 Wildcats.

Following this week’s high-profile games against No. 1 Auburn (a 67-60 away loss on Wednesday) and No. 16 Missouri at home, Arkansas has four regular-season matchups remaining before the SEC Tournament begins March 12 in Nashville. The Razorbacks might need a deep run there to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Those could draw more outside — and NBA — eyeballs to Wagner. Teammate Adou Thiero is also considered a first-round draft prospect, while Zvonimir has snuck into the second round of ESPN’s latest mock draft. The future beyond this season, however, is not Wagner’s most pressing priority.

“First step, making it to the tournament,” he said. “And then, after that, fighting for the national championship. … Just not looking too much ahead to the future. Just taking it one day at a time and enjoying every moment as it comes.”

After the victory over LSU last week, Wagner walked out of Bud Walton Arena with his mother, Syreeta Brittingham, and Richmond. It is unclear how long Wagner will remain in Fayetteville, his new basketball home surrounded by familiar faces.

Yet the twist from top-rated recruit to second-year college player has taught Wagner to “be grateful to play the game.”

“Of course, I went through some adversity,” Wagner said. “I had some good moments and some bad moments. But all in all, I’m still doing something I love, and I’m still blessed to be able to do that.”