Former Kentucky guard DJ Wagner transferred to Arkansas to reunite with John Calipari for second season

One of the biggest names in the 2024 portal cycle has made his transfer choice: Former Kentucky point guard DJ Wagner will follow John Calipari to Arkansas for his sophomore season, the Wagner family told CBS Sports.

Wagner had been in the portal for over a month and recently visited USC and Arkansas. He also flirted with the idea of ​​playing in Oregon and Florida, according to sources. After a highly publicized high school career, Wagner’s first season at UK was not as productive or prolific as some had expected. He averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 29 games at Kentucky, including 28 starts. Wagner played 25.8 minutes per game and shot 40.5%. He is a former five-star prospect who at one point was ranked No. 1 in the class of 2023. (He finished No. 6 at 247 Sports.)

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette was first to report the news.

Wagner chose to quietly commit to Arkansas this weekend and will go against the modern custom of posting his commitment on social media — a rare move for a high-profile college athlete in 2024.

Wagner is the son of Dajuan Wagner, a former No. 1 recruit who also played for Calipari in 2001-02 at Memphis. He is the grandson of Milt Wagner, who helped Louisville win a national championship in 1986.

Kentucky went 23-10 last season and saw its campaign end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when it was upset by No. 14 seed Oakland. Wagner scored no points on five shots in this game. This solidified the work he needed to do to build a potential NBA career. Despite some ups and downs in his freshman season, Wagner remains an NBA prospect and should be among the most intriguing sophomores in college basketball for the 2024-25 season.

His addition to Arkansas is a big gain for Calipari, who now has eight scholarship players, many of them high-profile additions — and all through the transfer portal after Calipari took the Razorbacks job over the weekend of the Final Four. . Wagner ranks 15th in David Cobb’s rankings of the best 2024 transfers in college basketball.

In joining Arkansas, Wagner will play alongside FAU transfer Johnell Davis, who played a similar role under Dusty May with the Owls. Davis (18.2 points per game) and Wagner are both ball-dominant point guards who thrive as playmakers, but are also capable of scoring without having to initiate the offense. That dynamic — and the way Calipari builds his offense through their similar skill sets — will be a storyline to watch on one of college basketball’s most interesting and closely followed teams for 2024-25.