LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Darrell Griffith watched video of D.J. Wagner. He’d been given all the glowing scouting reports about Wagner, the top high school player in the class of 2023.
He’d talked to D.J.’s grandfather, Milt, a former University of Louisville basketball star. He’d heard the chatter that Wagner will be a lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
But like Herbert Crook, Wiley Brown, Kevin Walls, Jerry Eaves, Tick Rogers, Robbie Valentine, Beau Zach Smith, Will Olliges, Sydney Curry, El Ellis, Mike James and other former and current Cardinals, Griffith went to the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center Saturday morning to see if the hype was legitimate.
Griffith saw.
It was.
“Special,” Griffith said. “Very special.”
That was after Wagner drove left, then right, then around a pair of defenders, then into the lane and then under the rim before soaring spectacularly to finish with an unblockable left-handed layup. Count it.
“He showed me everything I needed to see, said Griffith, the Cardinal legend who led the program to its first NCAA title in 1980.
“His skill set is special, the way he can finish with either hand and change directions so easily.”
“D.J. has been groomed from Day One for the success that he’s achieved now,” said Pervis Ellison, the former Card who directs the New Jersey Scholars, Wagner’s AAU program.
“Very few superstar type players like that, play the game the right way. This kid, if you watch him play, he’s never going to be that kid who takes 30 shots in a game.
“But if you go back and look at the numbers that he puts up, his plus-minus is always at a high level … his parents have done a fantastic job with the young man he’s become.”
Know this: D.J. Wagner was just as enthused to meet Griffith as Griffith was to meet the next great recruit the Cardinals (and the rest of college basketball) are chasing.
Wagner did not confirm that. Both D.J. and his father, Dajuan, did not speak to the media after Wagner scored 29 points while leading the Scholars to a 73-71 victory over ProSkills in their opening game at the Nike EYBL AAU Tournament.
A coach with the Scholars team said the players needed to leave the facility for a lunch trip and then return to their hotel to rest. They are scheduled for their second game Saturday at 9 p.m. against Bronny James (LeBron’s son) and his Strive for Greatness team.
Dajuan Wagner, Milt’s son, politely declined an interview request. Another fascinating twist was added to the hyper-competitive D.J. Wagner recruiting saga this week. New U of L coach Kenny Payne added Milt Wagner to his coaching staff as the Cards’ director of player development and alumni relations.
Will that make the Cards the favorite to sign D.J. Wagner in Payne’s first full recruiting class?
Or is the team to beat still Kentucky, and John Calipari, who once hired Milt at Memphis and then coached Dajuan for one season with the Tigers?
Or are Villanova, Michigan, Syracuse, Arkansas and Memphis actually legitimate contenders for Wagner, who is 6 feet 3 inches tall and 170 pounds?
Stay tuned. He has one more season to play at Camden (N.J.) High School.
Nobody was talking Saturday.
But the atmosphere at the Fairgrounds certainly had a pro-Louisville vibe, especially when Griffith and Milt Wagner stood behind the Scholars’ bench and gave each other “Can you believe that?” looks after D.J. made one of his crossover, attack-the-rim moves that only players who have that one-and-done ability can make.
“He’ll definitely be a lottery pick,” Ellison said.
And while D.J. Wagner was not given the chance to say how much he enjoyed playing in front of his grandfather, Griffith and other former Cards, somebody else was willing to say it.
That would be Ellison, the star of Louisville’s 1986 NCAA championship team as well as the first pick in the 1989 NBA Draft.
Did D.J. Wagner, center Aaron Bradshaw and several other players that Louisville is recruiting notice the turnout of former Cardinals, like Griffith?
“Absolutely,” Ellison said. “Absolutely.
“The thing about my guys, they’re going to do their prep work (before any road trip). They knew we were coming here. So they went through the (YouTube) archives and got all the names.
“It’s funny. D.J. was like, ‘I’m going to meet Dr. Dunkenstein (Griffith).’ I said, ‘Yeah, you sure will meet him.’
“So when (Griffith) walked over to him, it was a surreal moment for him.
“Louisville has got a history of great players who played in the program. These young men aspire to go on and have professional careers. We’ve had a lot of former players who’ve had that opportunity. So they look up to those guys.”
Do not overlook Ellison in this situation. Payne has been one of his best friends since they arrived at Louisville together as freshmen in 1985. D.J. Wagner has played in Ellison’s AAU program for three seasons.
A year ago Ellison made some Louisville fans bristle when he said the former Cardinal coaching staff had not called him about trying to recruit players on his teams. His 17-and-under team is favored to win the Nike Peach Jam in South Carolina in July.
In addition to Wagner, Bradshaw, who is 7 feet tall, and forward Mackenzie Mgbako, a forward who has orally committed to Duke, are also ranked in the Top 25 players in the Class of 2023.
Has the arrival of Payne, Nolan Smith, Danny Manning, Josh Jamieson and Milt Wagner on the staff made the Cards more of a factor with the Scholars’ players?
“Absolutely,” Ellison said. “That’s 100 percent true.
“And, I do hear and get little comments about reporting about that question you actually asked me (last year). I know there was some difference of opinion (about the previous staff calling Ellison) of people saying, ‘No, we did reach out to him.’
“No, that didn’t happen. That absolutely didn’t happen. But now, obviously, that’s not the case. We have my best friend (Payne) over there coaching now. And he’s going to do an outstanding job at the University of Louisville.
“He’s got all my support, absolutely.”
All the former U of L players showed Wagner, Bradshaw and the rest of Ellison’s team how much they wanted them Saturday. Prepare for the most intriguing Louisville recruiting push in years.
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