Florida will reportedly be getting a visit by one of the highest profile remaining players in the transfer portal–Kentucky’s DJ Wagner.
Wagner has been a huge name in basketball circles ever since he was in middle school as a talented player and someone in a family of basketball royalty. His father was Dajuan Wagner, a former star at Memphis, and the grandson of Milt Wagner, a former star at Louisville. Wagner was involved in a very high profile recruitment between Kentucky and Louisville who hired Milt Wagner as an assistant coach to try and lure DJ only to come up short, which began criticism of head coach Kenny Payne among fans that only grew louder throughout his tenure.
As a recruit Wagner was the 6th ranked player in the class of 2023, and the 2nd ranked combo guard.
At Kentucky Wagner had a productive freshman season averaging 9.9 points and 3.3 assists, starting in 28 of the 29 games he played. In his one game against Florida (he missed the second meeting with an injury) he had 14 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds, getting by his defender at will at showcasing the talent that now has Florida’s staff interested.
Wagner stands at 6’3” and possesses elite quickness. It seems like every time he gets the ball he ends up in the paint as few defenders are able to keep up with his first step. Once he gets to the rim he can finish with either length or athleticism, and it resulted in a number of highlight reel plays throughout the season. Where he might be best is in transition and he can either be a one-man fast break when he gets the rebound or be a finisher as he runs the wing like an olympic sprinter. Wagner still has some learning to do on the defensive end but with his excellent physical gifts and competitiveness he’s already a solid defender with a lot of potential to turn into an elite one.
Entering the season there was buzz that Wagner would be a one-and-done player headed for the NBA Draft (a fair assumption for most players ranked 6th in their recruiting class) but he is choosing to return to college to try and hone some of his skills. That starts with his shooting as he hit just 29% from three, something that he’d love to improve drastically to maximize his draft stock. His season also ended on quite a sour note with a 0 point performance in a loss to Oakland in the NCAA Tournament, and as someone who prides himself on being a big-game player he’ll need to get that taste out of scouts.
Todd Golden recently said in a press conference that he would be looking to add one more young ball handler, and I suppose if you want to get technical–Wagner would fit the bill. He might not be a typical “young” player in the sense that when coaches are looking for young players they often want someone who will stick around for multiple seasons, and with Wagner it’s likely that he’ll be off to the NBA sooner than later. Florida going after Wagner does show that they aren’t 100% confident in the current ball handling on the roster so even if they don’t land Wagner you can bet they’ll be looking for someone in the true point guard role. Walter Clayton and Alijah Martin are both excellent players but neither has shown the ability to play a primary ball handling role for large stretches and while both would like to move into playing that role, Florida’s coaching staff would like some insurance.
With Wagner being such a talented player with a lot of pedigree, it will be a challenging recruitment. Wagner has already visited USC, a team that is considered to be the favorite right now. He’ll now visit Arkansas this upcoming weekend, open to the idea of sticking with John Calipari who is now with the Razorbacks. A return to Kentucky isn’t off the table, though sources say this is an unlikely outcome.
Currently it is not known when he will visit Florida but there are plans to do so. With the transfer portal market starting to dry up there aren’t many elite guards like Wagner that remain so he’s in no hurry to make a decision, so it’s not a major concern that the Gators haven’t yet got a visit. It’s also a possibility that the Gators could get his final visit, a spot in the order the staff wouldn’t mind.