Camden’s DJ Wagner follows head coach John Calipari to Arkansas

DJ Wagner has found a new home with a familiar head coach.

After playing one season at the University of Kentucky, the Camden High School 2023 graduate has followed John Calipari to Arkansas, according to multiple sources including the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Wagner is the sixth player or prospect to follow Calipari to Arkansas, including Camden senior Billy Richmond, who flipped his commitment from Kentucky in April.

The 6-foot-4 Wagner, a 2,000-point scorer and three-time Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year, played in 29 games (28 starts) for Kentucky as a true freshman last season. He averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 assists and 1.9 rebounds for the Wildcats, who went 23-10 and were eliminated by Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in March.

Wagner was named SEC Freshman of the Week three times and was selected to the All-SEC Freshman team during the season.

Following the season, Calipari stepped down as head coach of the Wildcats after 15 seasons with a 410-122 record. He was hired as Arkansas’ 14^th men’s head basketball coach on April 10. Calipari is the winningest active men’s basketball coach with a 855-262 record.

Calipari coached Wagner’s father Dajuan Wagner at Memphis.

DJ Wagner also has a connection with Arkansas assistant coach Kenny Payne, who played alongside his grandfather, Milt Wagner, during Louisville’s run to the national title in 1986.

Wagner entered the transfer portal in April. According to ESPN.com, the guard made only two visits to USC and Arkansas.

Wagner finished with 2,040 career points at Camden, the third member of his family to achieve the feat with the Panthers, along with Dajuan (state-record 3,462 points) and Milt (2,003). He also was a three-time Courier-Post Player of the Year.

Camden grad Aaron Bradshaw played alongside one season with DJ Wagner at Kentucky before transferring to Ohio State last month.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Camden’s DJ Wagner transfers to Arkansas, follows head coach to Fayetteville