Being one of the prized recruits of the 2023 recruiting class and an expected Top 10 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, there are high expectations for DJ Wagner. Coming to Kentucky, he has had to make some changes both on and off the court and Rivals basketball analyst, Krysten Peek, has been following Wagner’s development for years and talked to fellow Kentucky media member Larry Vaught.
Getting Used to Sharing the Basketball
Wagner has long been a ball-dominant player, but now that he’s teaming up with other high-level guards like Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham, Peek claims that there will be some “growing pains”. A large part of that will be learning to play an off-the-ball role in certain situations.
That is not because Wagner isn’t good enough to lead Kentucky, but because the talent and versatility around him feature NBA-level guys as well. Peek has noted that since Wagner’s commitment to Kentucky in November, he has grown more comfortable playing off the ball to close out his senior season, and even in postseason all-star games, such as the McDonald’s All-American Game.
At GLOBL JAM, Wagner showed that improvement off-the-ball. While Wagner is undoubtedly more comfortable when he has the ball and is in control, he also showed the ability to catch and shoot (specifically in the corner), cut effectively, and make good reads for the hockey assist.
The Biggest Area of Growth: Handling the Spotlight
With that said, Peek says that Wagner’s on-court adjustments isn’t his biggest area of growth, that has taken place off the court. “DJ’s biggest growth in his game has been off the court. He is really good at talking to the media now, and that wasn’t always true,” Peek said.
“I even asked him recently about the brawl that ended his high school team’s season and he had an answer (and a great answer) about how every time you step on the court, you have to learn positives and negatives from it.”
Coming to a place like Kentucky, everything is magnetized and scrutinized, something Peek says he is prepared for. “That to me is the biggest area of growth in DJ for me. He’s going to have a lot of NIL deals and he’s much more comfortable in front of the camera,” Peek said,
“He is going to be okay at Kentucky where everything he does will be watched and scrutinized. But I really think he’s ready for that part of his career now, too.”
Considering that Wagner has been labeled as a future star since a very young age, and that he comes from a family of NBA pedigree from his father and grandfather, has had the pressure to succeed. According to Peek, he is primed for his freshman season at Kentucky, even when he inevitably hits adversity.
Read Krysten Peek’s comments on DJ Wagner for yourself here.
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