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DJ Wagner Changes Tone on Louisville, Is Kentucky Still the Favorite?

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Jon Lopez/Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

DJ Wagner, the prized No.1 recruit in the class of 2023, has been long considered to be a presumed lock to Kentucky. This is due to the connection between his father Dajuan Wagner, and John Calipari, who Dajuan has said multiple times that he owes his career to.

Dajuan played for Calipari at Memphis and pushed him to leave after one season, being drafted sixth in the 2002 NBA Draft before his career was derailed by injuries. This left Dajuan with a lasting impression of Calipari, as he pushed him to do what was best for himself and his family.

With that said, one could easily see the connection and see why DJ would almost certainly be a Wildcat. Well, that is until recently.

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When Kenny Payne was hired as the head coach for the Louisville Cardinals, another connection was made. That connection? DJ’s grandfather, Milt Wagner, who was Payne’s college teammate and remains a close friend.

Speculation began immediately that Payne would hire Milt onto the staff as an assistant coach to help lure DJ to Louisville. However, on Wednesday Payne finalized his staff, and Milt was not hired.

This should leave Kentucky fans pretty confident, as Kentucky has the two of the closest connections to DJ, his father Dajuan (previously mentioned), and stepbrother, UK walk-on Kareem Watkins, who DJ has called his “best friend” and “blood brother”.

Or should it?

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In the last month, DJ has talked about Louisville and Kenny Payne, giving two very different answers just weeks apart from each other.

April 4th in an interview with 247Sports’ Travis Branham: “Not really, not too much, not a lot but he is definitely a great coach. I know that he was a great coach at Kentucky and I know that he will do a great job but I don’t have a super personal connection.”

April 22nd during EYBL in Indianapolis: “That’s like family. We have always been family since I was young.”

Make of the comments what you will, but if you are one to put stock into the 247 Crystal Ball predictions, Kentucky and Louisville are now even at 50%.

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Given the connections, I would side with Kentucky still being the favorite, but it is shaping up to be a heated rivalry battle for the Nation’s top recruit. For Kentucky’s sake, one can hope this is not another tale of misfortune for the No. 1 recruit, such as the likes of James Wiseman, Cade Cunningham, and Shaedon Sharpe.

BB Recruiting

Kentucky Receives First Transfer Commitment From Top 25 Prospect, “Not Many People Get Opportunities Like This”

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Kentucky transfer Kam Williams prepares to shoot.

While all the attention is on Kentucky’s matchup with Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen, the transfer portal officially opened on Monday and the staff has been hard at work.

Already tossing a wide net, reaching out to nearly a dozen guys in the past few days, the Cats have reeled in their first commitment from Top 25 ranked (247Sports), four-star transfer Kam Williams from Tulane.

With a 6-8, 190-pound frame, Williams has good size. What caught the staff’s eye is his ELITE shooting ability, shooting better than 41 percent this past season and that includes 17 threes made beyond 25 feet. He excels best in catch-and-shoot situations, where he ranks in the 94th percentile.

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Williams received interest from many schools in addition to Kentucky, such as Florida, Louisville, and St. John’s among others. Why did Williams commit to Kentucky so quickly?

“Not many people get opportunities like this, so I wanted to pull the trigger fast,” Williams told ESPN. “More people are waiting to fill that spot, so I had to take advantage.”

“My dream is to play in the NBA. Kentucky’s culture and background shows that they care about their players, especially developing them into the best players they can be.”

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Kentucky Named a Finalist for Five Star, Top 5 NBA Prospect Nate Ament

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2025 top five prospect Nate Ament on his visit to Kentucky.
UK Athletics

Mark Pope has received three top-35 commitments in his first high school recruiting class, including two high 4-star commits in Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno.

However, his first top-10 prospect still eludes him after missing out on Caleb Wilson last month… at least for now.

Over the last few weeks, Pope and his staff have focused heavily on top-five prospect Nate Ament.

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Ament, the second-ranked power forward in the 2025 class, cut his list down to five schools earlier this week: Duke, Louisville, Tennessee, Arkansas, and the Kentucky Wildcats.

The 6-foot-9 prospect has visited each of them except Arkansas over the last five months, with a decision expected in the next month or so. Where does each program stand?

According to Joe Tipton of On3, Louisville and Duke have “positioned themselves” the best in this recruitment, giving Pat Kesley and the Cardinals a slight lead. However, there is still time, and one thing that could shake things up the most is NIL, reported to be one of Ament’s biggest priorities.

Elsewhere at On3, Jamie Shaw did his own update, where he said this could be down to a Kentucky vs. Louisville battle.

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“Speaking with sources at this point in time it does sound like there is a split room around Nate Ament with Duke, Louisville, and Kentucky. With the intel I am currently getting, I would not be surprised to see this ultimately come down to a Kentucky and Louisville battle,” Shaw wrote, later adding that a decision could come in the next few weeks.

Ament is fresh off a visit to Kentucky, where he saw Rupp Arena at its best as the Wildcats completed the season sweep of Tennessee. That being his most recent visit, along with Pope visiting for Ament’s Senior night, the hope is it made a lasting impact, but will it be enough?

Time will tell, but the Cats are a legitimate contender to land Ament.

Be sure to read Shaw’s update here.

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Also posted on A Sea of Blue.

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Kentucky Hosting Top Five Recruit Nate Ament

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Top five prospect Nate Ament will be visiting Kentucky in Rupp Arena as they take on Tennessee.
USA Basketball

After missing out on Caleb Wilson, Kentucky has shifted focus to its last remaining prospect, Nate Ament. The 6-foot-9 small forward prospect out of Warrenton, Virginia, is now the Wildcats’ last remaining prospect in the high school ranks for the 2025 class.

Ament has set up a visit to Kentucky, which was first reported by On3’s Joe Tipton. He will be in attendance when Tennessee travels to Rupp Arena on February 11th, with both the Wildcats and the Volunteers in the mix within the recruitment.

It is important to note that Kentucky is behind in this recruitment as they prioritized Caleb Wilson over Ament which did not pay off in the end. Ament has already visited Duke, Tennessee, Louisville, Texas, and Notre Dame. He is currently down to 11 schools including the Cats.

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Duke has been considered the longtime favorite in the recruitment but Mark Pope and company will have the chance to sell themselves before Ament decides to commit to another school.

Mark Pope even recruited Ament during his visit to Tennessee, where Kentucky pulled the upset on the road. As the team was celebrating coming off the floor, Pope passed Ament saying “Let’s go, Nate,” and “C’mon, Nate.”

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