LEXINGTON, Ky. — The latest development in the recruitment of star high school basketball prospect DJ Wagner is here, and it’s a big one.
The University of Louisville has hired Milt Wagner for a staff position under new head coach Kenny Payne, a long-expected move that could bring an immediate recruiting splash for this new era of Cardinals basketball.
Louisville officially announced the hire Tuesday afternoon, with Wagner holding the title of Director of Player Development and Alumni Relations for the program.
“It’s an honor for me to return to my alma mater and work alongside my brother Kenny Payne,” Wagner said in a statement. “Louisville is my second home and I’ve always wanted to return here to work with this historic program that I contributed my blood, sweat and tears for as a student-athlete. I’m thrilled to be here with a terrific staff and help this program achieve at the highest level.”
Wagner is a former U of L star, a teammate and longtime friend of Payne, and a figure with close ties to Kentucky coach John Calipari. Wagner is also the grandfather of DJ Wagner, a combo guard from Camden, N.J., who has long been ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 class and is now at the center of a major recruiting battle between UK and Louisville.
The younger Wagner, who turned 17 years old this month, has been largely mum on his recruitment, though several predictions in favor of Louisville have been logged on the national recruiting websites in recent weeks.
Before U of L hired Payne as its new head coach this offseason, Kentucky was viewed as the major favorite in Wagner’s recruitment. Calipari coached Wagner’s father, Dajuan Wagner, early in his tenure at Memphis, and he has remained close to the Wagner family in the two decades since.
247Sports analyst Travis Branham was the first to put in a Louisville pick on Wagner’s Crystal Ball page last month. A few weeks before that, he told the Herald-Leader that the Cardinals represented the biggest threat to Kentucky in Wagner’s recruitment.
“Now, with Kenny Payne being hired, that is the one thing that can really throw a wrench into that whole plan,” Branham said. “Obviously, DJ’s grandfather played at Louisville. There are rumblings that he could potentially join the staff with Kenny Payne there. So, if anyone is going to take DJ Wagner from Kentucky — from what it sounds, at this point — it’s going to be Kenny Payne at Louisville.”
In a possible case of history repeating itself, Calipari actually hired Milt Wagner for a similar staff role at Memphis around the same time he secured a commitment from Dajuan Wagner, who was the consensus No. 3 recruit nationally in the 2001 class.
Now, it’s Payne hiring Milt Wagner, who could help deliver his grandson — currently the No. 1 player in the 2023 class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings — to the Cardinals.
As a junior this past season, Wagner averaged 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 3.3 assists per game, guiding Camden High to its first appearance in the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title game since 2000. Calipari and the entire Kentucky coaching staff traveled to New Jersey for that game.
The UK coaching staff also kept a close eye on Wagner during the April evaluation periods, clearly keeping him as a top priority in the program’s 2023 plans despite the building buzz in recruiting circles that Louisville had become the team to beat.
Wagner was named the most valuable player in the Nike EYBL — the premier grassroots basketball league in the country — following the first week of games last month. He averaged 23.8 points per game during that session.
This weekend, Wagner will be in Louisville with his New Jersey Scholars program for the next round of Nike EYBL play. College coaches are not permitted to attend those games.
