Dajuan Wagner

Dajuan Marquett Wagner Sr. (born February 4, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. He is the son of former University of Louisville and National Basketball Association (NBA) player Milt Wagner[1] and left the NBA early into his career because of debilitating health problems. He was drafted 6th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2002 NBA draft.

Dajuan Wagner
Personal information
Born (1983-02-04) February 4, 1983
Camden, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High schoolCamden (Camden, New Jersey)
CollegeMemphis (2001–2002)
NBA draft2002 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Playing career2002–2007
PositionPoint guard
Number2, 0
Career history
2002–2005Cleveland Cavaliers
2006Golden State Warriors
2007Prokom Trefl Sopot
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

High school career

Wagner attended Camden High School, where he played with the varsity team freshman year. He debuted on December 19, 1997 against Highland high School, scoring 12 points. He went on to play in 27 games his first season, averaging 27.3 points and recording a season-high of 45 points against Red Bank on February 13, 1998,[2] and at the end of the season he received the Freshman of the Year award from ESPN.[3] In his sophomore year, Dajuan played in 17 games and had a new career-high of 57 points against Pennsauken Tech on January 26th. He finished the season averaging 35.3 points per game,[2] and won the ESPN Sophomore of the Year award.[3]

The following year he played in 28 games. On January 31st, 2000 he scored 80 points (24 of which in the fourth quarter) in a 122–66 win against Pennsauken Tech.[2][4] In his junior year he was already considered one of the top players of his class.[4][5] At the end of the season he had an average of 31.9 points per game.[2] For his senior year he debuted on December 15th scoring 36 points against Eastern, followed by a 50-points performance against Bishop Eustace.[2]

On January 16, 2001 he scored 100 points against Camden County Tech. He converted 42 of his 61 field goals (with 10 3-pointers) and 6 free throws: he scored 25 points in the first quarter, 21 in the second, 26 in the third and 28 in the fourth.[6] He went on to score 50 or more points 4 more times during the season, and averaged 42.5 points in 29 games played as a senior.[2] He scored 3,462 points in high school (the most in New Jersey high school history, breaking former high school star John Somogyi's scoring record of 3,451 points; when Somogyi played there was no 3-point shot), and scored 25 points in the McDonald's All-American Game.[7] Wagner is considered by many to be the greatest high school basketball player in New Jersey history.[8][9]

College career

Wagner considered offers from Connecticut, Kentucky, Louisville, Memphis and Miami (FL),[10] and signed with Memphis in June 2000.[11] He played one year of college basketball at the University of Memphis. He scored a season-high 32 points against Old Dominion on November 14, 2001 in his 2nd game with Memphis, and tied his season high on March 26, 2002 against Temple during the NIT semifinal.[12] He contributed with 16 points in the title game against South Carolina and at the end of the season he earned several NIT and conference honors, including the MVP award of the 2002 NIT. He also broke the record for points in a single season for Memphis with 762.[12]

His coach, John Calipari, revoked Wagner's scholarship after his freshman year to force him to enter the NBA, because Calipari believed that Wagner should not avoid the money he would receive as a first-round draft pick.[13][14]

College statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001–02 Memphis 363531.8.410.317.7222.53.61.20.621.2

Professional career

Wagner was chosen with the sixth overall pick of the 2002 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. In his rookie season he averaged 13.4 points per game and shot 36.9% from the field. In the later part of his rookie year, Wagner often attended the trial of his stepfather Leonard "Pooh" Paulk, who was indicted as an alleged drug supplier.[9]

Wagner was hampered by injuries and health problems thereafter. He averaged a career-low 4.0 points in 11 games played during the 2004-05 season, and was hospitalized for ulcerative colitis. The Cavaliers did not exercise their option on his contract for the 2005-06 season and subsequently Wagner was out of the league.

His colitis condition was not amenable to medication and, after consulting with New York Knicks head coach Larry Brown, who referred him to a New York medical expert, Wagner underwent surgery to remove half his colon on October 25, 2005, at Mount Sinai Hospital.

In April 2006, Wagner began training with former high school rival Omar Wellington at Nexxt Level Sports in Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey. During his recovery, he was featured in the Philadelphia Daily News and on Comcast SportsNet; both reported that he would be attempting a comeback for the 2006 season.

On September 22, 2006, he signed a two-year $1.6 million contract with the Golden State Warriors.[1] On November 20, two months after he recovered from a serious illness to make an NBA comeback, the Warriors bought out his contract after he had played one game and scored four points with the team.[15]

On August 31, 2007, Wagner signed a one-year contract with Prokom Trefl Sopot in Poland.[16][17] Averaging 8.3 points in six games, he returned to South Jersey after hurting his hip and reinjuring his knee in Poland.

On October 12, 2015, he attempted to return to basketball and planned to sign with the AmeriLeague.[18] However, the league folded days later, after it was discovered that the founder was a con artist.[19]

Wagner has been a resident of West Deptford Township, New Jersey.[20]

Personal life

Wagner's son, DaJuan Wagner Jr., was ranked the No. 1 basketball recruit in the country for the class of 2023, according to 247Sports.[21]

See also

References
  1. "Wagner signs with Warriors after two years out of NBA". September 22, 2006. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  2. "Dajuan Wagner game-by-game". Courier-Post. March 17, 2001. p. 58.
  3. Flores, Ronnie (May 18, 2001). "All-time underclass POYs". ESPN.co.uk. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  4. "Dajuan Wagner scores 80". The Courier-Journal. February 2, 2000. p. 12.
  5. Hodge, Bill (May 8, 2000). "Stevenson headed to NBA". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  6. Narducci, Marc (March 2, 2012). "Camden's Dajuan Wagner still hears about his 100-point game in 2001". philly.com. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  7. Strauss, Robert. " IN PERSON; Hoop Dreams Revisit Camden", The New York Times, February 13, 2000. Accessed April 6, 2008.
  8. "Cleveland Browns NFL Football". Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  9. Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes - Philly.com Archived October 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "POTENTIAL RECRUITS". The Courier-Journal. May 27, 2000. p. 16.
  11. Kriegel, Mark (June 23, 2000). "NCAA knows it's all relative". Daily News.
  12. "Dajuan Wagner". NBA.com. 2002. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  13. King, Jason (March 17, 2009). "Just win, baby". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  14. Price, S. L. (March 14, 2011). "Too Slick, Too Loud, Too Successful Why John Calipari Can't Catch A Break". Sports Illustrated. Time Inc. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  15. "Tryout over: Warriors release little-used guard Wagner". November 21, 2006. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  16. "Prokom signs point guard Wagner". Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  17. Dajuan Wagner in Prokom Trefl! Archived September 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine August 31, 2007
  18. "Dajuan Wagner Continues Comeback — Signs With AmeriLeague". AmeriLeague.com. October 12, 2015. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  19. "AmeriLeague Founder Revealed As Con Artist". RealGM.com. October 22, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  20. Mannix, Chris. "Intestinal Fortitude; After surgery for colitis, Dajuan Wagner is trying to resume a career that once showed such promise", Sports Illustrated, September 11, 2006, backed up by the Internet Archive as of August 26, 2010. Accessed October 25, 2015.
  21. Boone, Kyle (September 30, 2020). "Class of 2023 recruiting rankings headlined by DaJuan Wagner Jr., Mikey Williams and Bronny James". CBSSports.com.
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