D.J. Wagner Appreciates Trust Coaches and Teammates Have in Him

Vicky Graff Photo

He’s been proclaimed as a certain NBA player for years and one of the best players in his recruiting class since middle school. However, Kentucky freshman D.J. Wagner had struggled a bit in Kentucky’s first three games.

It might not have been a breakout game for him against St. Joseph’s Monday night, but he scored 22 points and was 7-for-17 from the field as he consistently drove inside instead of settling for jump shots in the 96-88 overtime win. That enabled him to get to the foul line where he made seven of eight free throws.

Wagner also had a career-high six assists.

“He is the least I worry about,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said after the game. “He will figure it out. This is still all new.”

Wagner has the quickness and strength to get inside almost at will and can be impossible to slow down in transition. He didn’t worry when some shots early in the game rolled off the rim.

“That’s just how the game goes,” he said. “Some games, shots just not gonna fall. You might miss easy layups. That’s just how the game goes. It’s all about staying in the gym and staying confident.”

Calipari put the ball in Wagner’s hands a lot late in the game.

“My teammates and coaches have been doing a great job of helping me stay confident, no matter what. Just telling me to keep attacking,” Wagner said. “We had to keep playing and fight through adversity. Every team that comes in here starts off not missing a shot. We have to deal with that.

“It feels great knowing that Coach trusts me with the ball in my hands and my teammates trust me. Just to play in that atmosphere in a game like that was fun.”

“That’s what it’s all about — playing in games like this,” he said. “That’s what makes you want to play. Being able to compete in games like this. I wouldn’t say it scared us. It made it fun. When they were hitting shots down the stretch, we were in the huddle like, ‘We good.’ Smiling and all types of stuff. Because we just knew we had to keep fighting. That’s what comes with the game.”

Wagner knew there had been “chatter” about his play after UK’s first three games and especially after he struggled offensively in the loss to Kansas. He acknowledged after Monday’s win there is “always room for improvement” but winning is what matters most.

“We just worry about what is going on with the coaches an players because at the end of the day all we got is each other,” Wagner said. “We all put a lot of work in and it shows. We are always in the gym and that’s where confidence comes from.”

Wagner and freshman teammates Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham were in the game together late in overtime and Wagner said they are all confident in each other.

“It doesn’t matter who has the ball in their hands. Coach trusts us to make the right decisions,” he said.

Former UK All-American Jack Givens knew it was time for Wagner to shine and show what he could do after watching him score 17 points in the second half and overtime.

“I am so proud of him for staying positive,” Givens told Tom Leach on the UK Radio Network. “I get to see how hard the guys work. He is always the first one in the gym and the last one to leave. A guy like that committed to getting better and getting his game on level he knows it needs to be, you got to feel good for him. I thought he did a lot of good stuff. He played such a heady game. This was a big step for him.”

Expect more big steps from him based on what teammate Tre Mitchell has seen so far.

“It’s unbelievable because he’s such a coachable dude. He’s tweaking and altering pieces of his game every single day. He’s listening to Cal, and he’s taking what he has to say to heart,” Mitchell said.

“He realizes the adjustments he needs to make, and when he makes them he sees the difference in his game. He’s progressed so much, and I think you’re gonna see that happen so much more as time goes on here.