Sources: UK’s Wagner joining Calipari at Arkansas

Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff WriterMay 27, 2024, 06:43 AM ET

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• Basketball recruiting insider.
• Signed up with ESPN in 2014.
• Graduate of University of Delaware.Kentucky transfer D.J. Wagner,

a former top-five recruit, has dedicated to Arkansas, sources told ESPN.Wagner becomes the 6th player or prospect to

follow John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas. Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic likewise moved from Lexington to Fayetteville, while employees Boogie Fland, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond turned their commitments.Calipari stunned the college basketball world in early April, when the Hall of Popularity coach

left Kentucky after 15 seasons to change Eric Musselman at SEC competing Arkansas.A 6-foot-4 guard from Camden, New Jersey, Wagner entered the portal in mid-April and had a peaceful recruitment.

He took only 2 sees, to USC and Arkansas.The child of previous high school phenom and NBA player Dajuan Wagner, D.J. Wagner was considered the leading player in the 2023

class for much of his high school career.He ended his high school career ranked No. 4 in the ESPN 100 and got in Kentucky with first-round NBA draft expectations. After a number of early 20-point efforts against Saint Joseph’s and Marshall, nevertheless, he was irregular on the offending end.He finished his freshman season averaging 9.9 points and 3.3 assists.Wagner is now reunited with both coaches– Calipari and Kenny Payne, now an assistant at Arkansas– that recruited him greatly coming out of high school. Calipari had actually coached Wagner’s father at Memphis,

while Payne, then the head coach at Louisville, played with Wagner’s grandpa Milt on Louisville’s 1986 national championship team.With the addition of Wagner, Arkansas will likely enter the 2024-25 season ranked in the top 15 nationally. In addition to the Kentucky transfers and former commits, Calipari also landed 2 of the best players in the portal

: Florida Atlantic transfer Johnell Davis, the AAC Player of the Year, and Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo, an All-SEC selection.Wagner’s decision was initially reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.