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DJ Wagner Receives Louisville Crystal Ball Prediction

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UK Athletics

Over the past several seasons, Kentucky has been put in bad situations with No. 1 recruits.

Skal Labiessiere never played to his ranking. James Wiseman, once a Kentucky lock was pulled to Memphis as they hired his high school coach Penny Hardaway. Cade Cunningham, silently committed to Kentucky on an official visit before Oklahoma hired his brother. Now, potentially Shaedon Sharpe may never play in a Kentucky uniform after one semester.

It appears that Kentucky may be put in another with DJ Wagner, the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class.

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On Friday, Travis Branham of 24/7 Sports made a prediction for the Louisville Cardinals to land Wagner, with a “medium” confidence level.

Of the three predictions, Kentucky still leads with two, but it shows that Wagner is no longer the guarantee for Kentucky as once thought.

Why is this?

Since Kenny Payne was hired at Louisville, rumors have been circulating that he would being bringing in his former teammate and DJ’s grandfather Milt Wagner to his staff. That’s not to mention his other teammate, Pervis Ellison, who is DJ’s grassroots coach.

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Despite the worry that may cause, Calipari and Kentucky have their own connections, DJ’s father Dajuan, and stepbrother, UK walk-on Kareem Watkins, who DJ has called his “best friend” and “blood brother”.

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

A few months back, Milt Wagner did tell The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker, “I don’t tell my kids where to go, I let them figure it out. Of course, I’d like them to follow in my footsteps, but sometimes what is best for me might not be best for them… It has to be your decision. DJ is his own guy, and he’ll do what feels right for him.”

Earlier this month Wagner did open up about his recruitment with Branham, and talked about each school.

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In regards to Louisville and what he knows about Kenny Payne, DJ said, “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.”

Whereas, Wagner spoke glowingly about Kentucky.

“They definitely are recruiting me and it’s a great school. I am still open to everyone but Kentucky is a great school and I love Kentucky. It was definitely an honor seeing how much they supported me and it’s really an honor when any coach comes to watch but that was definitely great that they all came to watch.”

Kentucky should still feel confident but it is shaping up to be a battle of close connections with Calipari-Dajaun-Watkins vs. Payne-Milt-Ellison.

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Holidays for the Wagners are going to be awkward as DJ makes his decision with no timeframe set.

BB Recruiting

Top 20 Prospect Taylen Kinney Set To Visit Kentucky

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James Weber | The Enquirer

Taylen Kinney, one of the top guards in the 2026 class and the No. 1 point guard in Kentucky, will take an official visit with the Wildcats beginning on June 24.

The Newport, Kentucky native has been inserted in a bit of a bidding war with Louisville and other premier schools after his official visit with the Cardinals, but of course the true recruiting powerhouse had to cast a line in hope of a bite.

KSR’s Jack Pilgrim caught a video of Kinney working with Mark Pope one-on-one on the morning of June 17 at the USA U19 Training Camp in Colorado Springs.

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A picture of Kinney, along with Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson, two of Kentucky’s incoming freshman on this year’s squad, came out of the camp. Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 player in the class of 2026, who already took a visit to Kentucky recently, was also shown in the picture. All four players are Kentucky natives.

Kinney is a priority for Kentucky, and Pope planting the idea of being a Wildcat in his mind this past weekend certainly builds the hype of his commitment being a future reality.

However, we can’t act like Pat Kelsey hasn’t already beat Pope to the punch, and it may be too late to change Kinney’s mind on being a Cardinal.

“I probably talk to coach Kelsey twice a week,” Kinney said. “He talks to my parents multiple times a week. I talk to the whole staff all of the time.”

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He later added on some words that no Wildcat fan would want to hear.

“They (Louisville’s staff) just told me that I was their guy,” Kinney said. “I fit perfectly into their system, and there’s no other school that I fit better into than them.

A common member of Big Blue Nation would likely think “yeah alright, wait until you get that Kentucky treatment,” and with the climate of today’s recruiting trail, who knows what can happen.

It will likely be a long time before the star guard makes an official decision, but who doesn’t like a good back-and-forth between two rival programs. The bell has already rung, and round one goes to the Cardinals, but the Wildcats are coming out swinging for round two.

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No. 1 Ranked Recruit Takes Official Visit to Kentucky

The top-ranked recruit in the nation, Tyran Stokes, took his official visit to Kentucky following a prior delay.

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Tyran Stokes takes his official visit to Kentucky.
Mark J. Rebilas | Imagn Images

Being from Louisville doesn’t necessarily make you a cardinal, and Mark Pope has set out to prove that in the biggest possible way.

The top-ranked overall recruit in next year’s class, Tyran Stokes, officially took a visit to Lexington on Sunday, June 8. This comes in lieu of many rumors that he’d canceled his visit altogether due to frustration with fans trying to dig for information online.

Last month in a cryptic post on X, Stokes said, “Why can’t y’all give a kid some privacy”. As curious as that was, especially given the proximity to his originally planned visit to Kentucky, it seems that the true issue had no bearing on his choice to hear Coach Pope’s plea. 

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And, as Kentucky fans now know, sometimes that’s all it takes to get a guy in blue and white.

The Louisville native, at 6’7, 230, has become widely renowned for his strong slashing ability as a multi-threat scorer on the wing. Stokes is the sort of player that, nobody who you already have on your team, you make room for him. He’s got an intangible build made for the big leagues, and he’s not even out of high school yet.

Stokes is the kind of guy that’d have NBA scouts sitting court side in Rupp Arena. While that level of national buzz isn’t always a good thing, it’s hard to underscore the possibility, and excitement, of the top recruit in the nation committing to the Cats come 2026.

In the very least, Kentucky is in the race, alongside Kansas and Louisville as heavy pursuers. It’s never too early to look ahead, and, as usual, Pope and staff are doing just that with the biggest names in the game.

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Kentucky Earns Commitment From European Big Andrija Jelavic

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ABA League j.t.d./Dragana Stjepanovic

Earlier today, Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats received the commitment from Andrija Jelavic, a 6-foot-11 big from Croatia.

As first reported by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Jelavic is one of the most highly regarded European prospects that is taking his talent to the NCAA.

Soon to be 21 years old, Jelavic averaged 10.8 points per game on 60% shooting from the field to go along with 7.4 rebounds per game for Mega Superbet, the same club that NBA Champion and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic played for.

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As a shock to most, who were expecting Pope’s next commit to be a guard of some sorts, international players can now sign lucrative NIL deals. Kentucky, along with several of the elite colleges, are now in the European market. 

Jelavic, with shades of current European big men, can do just about everything on the court. He can shoot, dribble, pass, finish at the rim, etc. With a very relevant comparison, Jelavic plays almost perfectly in the replacement role of Andrew Carr. 

His commitment now makes him the fifth member of Pope’s additions this offseason, joining Kam Williams, Jaland Lowe, Mouhamed Dioubate and Jayden Quaintance. 

With a 7’2” wingspan, joining an already impressive Kentucky frontcourt, it’s safe to say for certain that this new team will not lack in that department. 

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Next year’s roster was loaded with talent already, but now with the addition of Jelavic, lots of questions are arising: Who will start? How many more players is Pope going to add? What will happen with the walk-ons? 

There’s plenty to think about for Pope and his staff before the season starts, but like he said back when he introduced himself to Big Blue Nation, “We’re here to win banners.” He’s going to make the moves he thinks will do just that for the Wildcats. 

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