How the Wagner household ascended to hoops royalty as Dajuan Wagner Jr., No. 1 participant in 2023 class, steps up

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NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — In 1981, Milt Wagner was an 18-year-old capturing guard from Camden, New Jersey, who made the McDonald’s All-American Group. 

Twenty years later, in 2001, Dajuan Wagner emerged from Camden as a genre-morphing combo guard who was not solely a McDonald’s All-American but in addition rated the No. 1 boys basketball recruit within the nation

And now, with one other 20 years handed, Dajuan Wagner Jr. has blossomed into the No. 1 recruit within the Class of 2023. He turned 16 in Might. The boy they name D.J. is the pleasure of Camden, simply as his father and grandfather had been in their very own eras. 

Milt, Juanny, D.J. Three generations of gamers who’ve ascended to the highest of their sport as youngsters.

The chances are infinitesimal.

The story is phenomenal. 

D.J. being a splendid 16-year-old basketball participant was not bequeathed to him as a God-given proper (although, watching him, you could possibly simply persuade your self in any other case). His gene pool is particular, however his work ethic and humility supersede no matter is occurring inside him on a molecular degree. 

We have seen a number of examples of father-son duos who’ve discovered hardwood success. However three consecutive generations of cream-of-the-crop basketball prospects? The Wagners are the primary. It is a fantastic American basketball story. 

Milt starred for Camden Excessive Faculty and have become a terrific faculty participant beneath Denny Crum at Louisville, the place he began on the Cardinals’ 1986 nationwide championship staff. Born when Milt was a sophomore at UL, Dajuan was bred in a tradition of basketball from start. 

“D.J. did not have an opportunity — he grew up into two generations of it,” Milt Wagner instructed CBS Sports activities.

For D.J., it has been a extremely good spring and summer season, which culminated with almost two weeks value of video games at Nike’s EYBL and Peach Jam occasions. He performed up on the U17 NJ Students grassroots staff and averaged 18.1 factors, 3.9 assists and a pair of.0 steals throughout EYBL play, trying very a lot the a part of a superlative highschool level guard. 

“In case you watch him play, you will not know he is that younger,” Milt Wagner stated. “You’d assume he is simply as outdated as the remainder of them youngsters, and he is in all probability youthful than all of them. He is a scholar of the sport, a gymnasium rat, a excessive basketball IQ. To be that younger, he has a superb tempo to his sport. It is onerous to show youngsters that younger to have that tempo, his personal tempo, and that separates him from lots of people.”

Wagner’s highschool video games the previous two seasons — when followers have been allowed within the gymnasium — have drawn curious folks from “throughout” to see him, Milt stated. However being probably the most well-known highschool hooper in New Jersey, and now some of the outstanding prospects in America, hasn’t affected D.J.’s perspective or outlook on his life and prospects.  

“He had all types of hype going into highschool,” Milt stated. “As soon as he received there, he did not disappoint anyone. He was precisely what they thought he can be. I believe he will have an opportunity to be higher than me and his father. He is received the entire metropolis following, that is for certain.”

Quickly sufficient, it’ll in all probability be greater than only a metropolis and even a complete state. With D.J. Wagner’s junior 12 months set to start in lower than a month, faculty coaches from the most important packages throughout the nation are smitten with this unpretentious level guard who, at this level, says he is open to actually any Division I faculty employees that want to recruit him. 

Why the No. 1 rating means nothing to D.J.

The place a participant will get ranked by recruiting companies often issues lots to that participant. And if not them, then possible a mum or dad or a coach. Not each recruit sees it this manner, however many understandably do. Rankings are publicity and publicity is alternative. The higher the publicity, the extra availability to boost your prospects by widening your pool of scholarship prospects. 

None of this issues to D.J, although. For the Wagners, D.J.’s stature amongst highschool gamers is considered an accepted factor … however in actuality carries primarily no significance. That is extraordinarily unusual amongst five-star gamers, not to mention the next-level elite prospects preventing for the highest spot.

“He is been the No. 1 participant in his class the final 12 months or two — it means nothing to him,” Syreeta Wagner, D.J.’s mom, instructed CBS Sports activities. “His dad’s achieved an incredible job of conserving him grounded. The rankings imply nothing. It is a staff sport, it isn’t a person sport. He simply needs to win. He would not care if he has 50 factors or 5, so long as he will get his staff to win. He by no means cared in regards to the hype.”

Classes utilized, partially, as a result of Milt and Dajuan can clearly nonetheless keep in mind simply how a lot cacophony encompassed Dajuan’s highschool years. Milt made certain Dajuan did not let his ego overpower his drive. Converse to those that knew the numerous they name Juanny, again after they knew him as a highschool participant, they usually’ll attest to how his work ethic and blue-collar strategy to basketball stored him going straight. He was a celebrity as a prospect by the point he was 17. D.J.’s possible on his method there now, and in talking along with his household, one can see these light however vital classes being utilized — although D.J. hardly wants coercing. 

“The stuff my dad put in to me once I was youthful, we take all of it and put all of it in him, me and my dad,” Dajuan instructed CBS Sports activities about his son. “It is nearly profitable, having enjoyable with your mates, getting higher day by day and never worrying in regards to the rankings or all of the loopy stuff. Whenever you win, all the pieces falls into place.”

Dajuan’s speaking outdoors Fitness center 6 in North Augusta, the place his son will play in just a little greater than an hour. You may see it in his eyes: that fatherly pleasure, bolstered by the reminiscences of what he went by means of greater than 20 years in the past, when his life modified in a method for which he wasn’t really ready. And that was earlier than the arrival of social media and the immeasurable enlargement of the web. 

“What do you wish to do once you develop up? Take it as a job then,” Dajuan stated. “However now, be a child, have enjoyable, no strain.” 

Dajuan’s seen firsthand how the strain, prospect rankings and tidal waves of consideration can have an effect on the mentality of younger gamers. He endured a few of that at 16 and 17 years outdated, too. They used to prepare AAU showcases round the concept that a younger Dajuan Wagner would present up and present out.

“It might probably poison them,” Dajuan stated. “You need to mute that at residence. That is not what it is about. It is about your staff and profitable video games. All that rankings stuff do not imply a lot. Have a look at the dudes within the NBA. A lot of them weren’t ranked.”

D.J. Wagner is poised to repeat what his father did 20 years in the past: be the No. 1-ranked participant in his highschool class.
Jon Lopez/Nike

The Wagner basketball legacy continues

The previous three years have been a gradual rise for D.J. Wagner, who by the age of 13 was undeniably exhibiting the sorts of items that usually sign a promising future in basketball. Though there was a narrative constructing for some time right here, the household has managed all expectations and stored hype from coming into into their residence. Since D.J. was at a grade-school degree, Dajuan and Syreeta had been insistent that their son maintain a really regular adolescence. 

“He is been naturally humble from the start,” Syreeta Wagner stated.

It was an early knack and affinity for soccer that gave D.J. a toughness groove in his head that later translated to the basketball courtroom and has stayed with him. Younger D.J. was so proficient that they needed to cease giving him the ball as a result of he would rating touchdowns too simply and too usually. The youngest boy on the sector was making it an unfair sport for the larger youngsters. 

“Quite a lot of that soccer helped him now as a result of you possibly can see how he will get to the basket, absorbing that contact,” Milt stated. 

D.J. will decide his spots in how bodily he will get with older and greater gamers now, however you may by no means catch worry in his eyes. His love of hoops discovered the next degree shortly earlier than his highschool profession started, when he began to actually perceive his lineage and the way in which his father and grandfather performed. He says it drove him to need extra. The extra D.J. understood, the extra he realized he wanted — and needed — to study.

“I wish to be that good, or be even higher,” D.J. instructed CBS Sports activities. “The pure love got here first, after which studying about my dad and stuff, they pushed me extra and made me extra motivated.” 

What number of 16-year-olds in 2021 know what a VCR is? D.J.’s watched movies not simply of his dad however VHS tapes of Milt, too. 

“Even when my Grandpop was in highschool and in faculty,” he stated. “It is loopy to observe how good they actually was and the way the sport was after they performed. It was loopy watching. It was a surreal second.” 

The Wagner household is from throughout the Camden a part of New Jersey, which hugs up towards Philadelphia. Basketball video games are big household affairs in regular instances, when 40-50 direct kin will present as much as see D.J. play. Catch considered one of his video games and you will instantly discover one thing inside seconds of watching D.J. Stylistically, the younger man hardly resembles his father as a basketball participant. He is longer, leaner, extra of a real level guard. 

“I am the kind of participant that takes what they provide me,” he stated. “I do not deal with any sure strikes or capturing the ball, I simply take what they provide me. If i see one thing the protection provides me, I will simply take it.”  

Milt, nonetheless, was a 6-5 capturing guard in his day. His construct and physique motion are nearer to D.J.’s model than Dajuan’s, although it is simple that D.J and Dajuan share a rugged toughness that may as properly be similar. 

“He’s precisely Dajuan,” Syreeta stated. “His character, his demeanor, his humbleness, his kindness.”

Whereas Dajuan was an aggressive, bull-in-a-china-shop sort — the classic/platonic mannequin of that early 2000s participant — D.J. is a still-growing lead guard who’s devastating in transition as a result of he blazes to open angles and makes defenses pay along with his willingness to distribute. He is slender the way in which his grandfather was and will get the basket with both hand across the rim. There’s an incredible use of the floater, as properly. Dajuan stated his son shoots the soar shot like his dad, who was silky from mid-range. On the defensive finish, he is tenacious.  

D.J. has been skilled by his father for a very long time; Dajuan took to coaching boys at an area gymnasium after his NBA profession ended as a result of a string of well being points. He would not draw back from comparisons to his father or grandfather. For him, it is a supreme praise.

“It is an honor and blessing, developing behind two nice gamers,” D.J. stated. “I by no means checked out it as that. I am only a child that loves taking part in basketball. However I sit again typically and assume, That is loopy. As nice a participant as they was, I sit again and assume. … I by no means have a look at it as strain. I watch outdated tapes of them. They encourage me and maintain me going. It is not strain, it is simply having enjoyable as a result of I am loving what i am doing.” 

Amazingly, D.J. is but to even contact a weight as part of his coaching routine, and that’s intentional. Dajuan needs his son’s physique to develop organically, and thus far he is gained his power primarily by doing pushups, along with plenty of stretching and body-strengthening workouts that do not require dumbbells or equipment. (However dad goes to deliver the iron into the image quickly.) 

“I’ve seen Dajuan at that age, when he was younger and the way good he was, and I get to see D.J. and it is rather comparable,” Milt stated. “The ability degree to be that younger — very comparable. We see it however we do not inform folks. We aren’t the kind of household to say, ‘He will be this, be that.’ We do not even inform him. We’ll watch, speak amongst one another, however maintain it there.” 

D.J. makes it simple on his household as a result of he has what’s been described as a wholesome love of basketball. It is not his complete life — he’s a straight-A scholar — however the trajectory is sort of irrefutable by now. 

“All three of them are the identical,” Syreeta stated with a chuckle. “Humble, not going loopy on the video games, them three are simply laid again. They do not trouble him about basketball. Dajuan and Milt simply assist him. In fact you’ve gotten [Dajuan] as your father and Milt as your grandfather they are going to offer you ideas and recommendation as a result of they had been the most effective, however in any other case they let him play.”

Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook and Devin Booker are the gamers the younger Wagner finds most attention-grabbing to check lately. He was cautious to level out that he is not instantly modeling his sport after any of them, however in watching Wagner play you possibly can see a little bit of Westbrook’s athletic determinism, loads of Lillard’s steely-eyed composure and a serving to of Booker’s mid-range pull-up method. 

Why faculty is the specified path 

In case you’re an knowledgeable faculty basketball or highschool hoops fanatic who’s learn this far and felt it just a little shocking {that a} No. 1 participant’s recruitment hasn’t been extra intensely coated, there are two causes for that. 

1) Bear in mind he simply turned 16 in Might and has two full years of highschool left.
2) The household is open to casting as broad of a internet as doable and is not attempting to dictate the recruitment of their son, nor the protection of it, the way in which some folks typically do.

Wagner doesn’t put up about himself or his scholarship affords on social media. This is not by secretive design; it is merely of no curiosity to him. Regardless of there being loads of non-college choices for Wagner to pursue, selecting the likes of go-between professional profession previous to coming into the NBA Draft would not appear to be of a lot attraction to the household. 

I am about to share a quote from the No. 1 prospect in 2023, somebody who will in all probability go on to be an NBA lottery decide in a number of years’ time. That is D.J. Wagner’s strategy to recruiting: 

“I am simply actually pleased that any faculties needed to succeed in out to me. I am simply pleased proper now. I do not have a look at like, dang, all these faculties are calling. I am open to any coach. I am simply grateful for anybody who reaches out. I’ve all the time been a fan of faculty basketball and I all the time have liked faculty. I’ll faculty. I like the aggressive nature across the sport, watching March Insanity, groups preventing [to win], the followers, how passionate they’re about these groups, these form of issues make me love faculty basketball.” 

That’s … uncommonly humble. Wagner has an open-book sort of recruitment that may definitely start to accentuate within the subsequent few months. Be it blue blood, Ivy League or simply about any sort of program in between, the household is humbly receptive to hearken to all severe pitches.

“He is open to any faculty,” Syreeta stated. “He will not inform you this, however he is received over 40 affords already.” 

D.J., certainly, will not inform those who, as a result of that is not how he is wired. He principally seeks no consideration. In case you’re on the lookout for most of the greatest packages who’re in on D.J. now: Villanova, Kentucky, Duke, Gonzaga, Memphis and Michigan solely start to begin the checklist of notable faculties who’re spiritedly courting him.

“The purpose is faculty,” Syreeta stated. “Which faculty? We do not know. He would not have a prime three, a prime 5, a prime 10, however he is undoubtedly open to any faculty proper now.”

Syreeta and Dajuan weren’t those to level this out, however their roles as supportive mother and father — which is to say: not being helicopter-like — have additionally possible helped D.J. by means of the primary half of his highschool profession. Catch Juanny within the stands and he is all the time invested however by no means overly emotional. The 2 will not be seeking to management a state of affairs. They belief their son, they usually belief the people who find themselves teaching him. 

“We did our job by placing good teaching round him — so we will simply be mother and father,” Dajuan stated. 

Having been round basketball their complete lives, Dajuan and Syreeta imagine the character of being a basketball household naturally helped D.J.’s worldview and psychological growth. All of this wasn’t thrust upon him on the age of 15 with none perspective or expertise from others — these he can belief — to fall again on. 

“He will be a child so long as he can,” Dajuan stated. “Finest days of your life being round your mates. This time. There ain’t no rush. Have enjoyable. As a result of when it turns into a enterprise, it is no extra enjoyable.” 

Wagner can converse from expertise. His phrases right here ring with a poignance, as teenage gamers mill in regards to the Riverview Park Actions Heart, making ready for video games, constructing their desires, scrolling their telephones to examine what’s being stated about their groups, their buddies and themselves on social media. 

Training issues to the household in a method that is palpable. D.J. is strongest in math and historical past, and the one factor he hates greater than dropping — perhaps — is getting a B. There will likely be no prep faculties in his future, both. No Montverde Academy or Oak Hill Academy or South Kent or IMG Academy. Camden is residence. Camden constructed him and Camden Excessive will watch him play for 4 years, simply as did with Juanny and Milt. 

“It is a public faculty, it is the place his father and grandfather performed at. That is been his dream, I believe, greater than being within the NBA,” Syreeta stated. “He will likely be at Camden Excessive for the rest of his highschool profession. He isn’t going anyplace.” 

A No. 1 prospect selecting to play his complete profession at a public highschool with websites clearly set on going to school, and earnestly embracing the recruiting course of? D.J. Wagner appears to be from one other period. However after all, that is precisely the place he got here from. 

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