Sad news: Another Kentucky top favorite star man departed to Arkansas in a blockbuster deal.
After John Calipari, D.J. Wagner is the third former Wildcat to move to Arkansas.
D.J. Wagner, the starting point guard for Kentucky this past season, has committed to the Razorbacks on Sunday. Wagner will travel to Arkansas with head coach John Calipari.
Wagner visited both Arkansas and USC through the transfer portal before deciding to bring Calipari and teammates 2023–24 Wildcats Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic back to Fayetteville. According to 247sports, he is the fourth-best combo guard and the 38th-best player overall in the transfer portal.
Wagner started 28 of the 29 games for the Wildcats this season, averaging 9.9 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 25.8 minutes. He shot 40.5% from the field, 29.2% from 3-point range, and 76.6% from the free throw line. Wagner’s performance earned him a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team, chosen by the league’s coaches at Kentucky this past season.
He received three SEC Freshman of the Week awards. Wagner scored in double figures in 13 games, including 22 in an overtime victory against St. Joe’s, a career-best 28 against Marshall, 18 at Texas A&M, 18 points and a career-high 10 assists against Georgia, and 19 points against Arkansas, while missing five games due to a high ankle sprain.
Wagner, a 2023 recruit out of Camden High School in New Jersey, was ranked No. 6 overall by the industry average 247Sports Composite and was previously considered a top 10 choice before the 2023–24 season began.
He was chosen as an All-American by McDonald’s. In Memphis in 2002, Calipari’s father, Dajuan Wagner, was his first one-and-done player.
Wagner is the sixth player to leave Kentucky via the transfer portal; the other players are guard/forward Jordan Burks, who has committed to Georgetown, forward Aaron Bradshaw, who has committed to Ohio State, and guard Joey Hart, who has committed to Ball State. Thiero and Ivisic will play at Arkansas. Only Ugonna Onyenso, the center, is still undecided.
Following their declarations and decisions to stay in the NBA Draft, Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, and Justin Edwards, three scholarship players from Kentucky’s 2023–24 team under Calipari, will not be playing for Mark Pope and the Wildcats in the upcoming campaign.
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Kentucky has been chosen to host a regional NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year.
On Monday, the Wildcats will find out their regional opponents and NCAA Tournament seeding.
Kentucky Baseball has been chosen to host an NCAA Tournament regional for the second consecutive year.
The Wildcats were among the 16 teams chosen, along with Georgia, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Virginia, Clemson, Oregon State, Arkansas, East Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, NC State, UC Santa Barbara, Oklahoma State, Florida State, and Arizona. The NCAA announced the 16 regional hosts on social media on Sunday.
Kentucky will find out its tournament seed, four regional opponents, and the regional it will be partnered with for the Super Regionals on Monday when the whole NCAA Tournament bracket is shown.
In program history, Kentucky is anticipated to be a top-eight national seed for the first time. If UK made it past Regionals, it would host Super Regional play at Kentucky Proud Park if it was chosen as one of the top eight seeds.
With a 39-12 regular season record, which included a 22-8 record in SEC play, the Wildcats secured the host position and shared the conference regular season title for the second time in team history (2006). It entered the NCAA Tournament with a 40-14 overall record after going 1-2 in the SEC Tournament, although it did manage to defeat Arkansas, another anticipated national seed.
Kentucky placed third in the RPI after the regular season and SEC Tournament.
For the first time in program history, UK has secured a bid in back-to-back seasons, and this is its ninth NCAA Tournament berth overall.
In his eight seasons as UK head coach, head coach Nick Mingione will guide the Cats into the NCAA Tournament for the third time. In the previous two years, the UK hosted and won regionals but lost in the Super Regionals. In 2017 and 2023, Mingione led the team to the NCAA Tournament.
Lexington will host regional play for just the fourth time in the history of UK Baseball.
The Cats hosted regionals in 2006, but College of Charleston eliminated them in the regional finals. However, in both 2017 and 2023, the team won their home regional. Its two trips to Super Regionals in program history are in 2017 and 2023. The College World Series has never been reached by UK Baseball.
