Dajuan Marquett Wagner Sr. (born February 4, 1983) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He is the son of former

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

and

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player Milt Wagner and left the NBA early into his career because of debilitating health problems. He was drafted sixth overall by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in the

2002 NBA draft The 2002 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2002, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting 57 amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, ...

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, and at the end of the season he received the Freshman of the Year award from

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. In his sophomore year, Dajuan played in 17 games and had a new career-high of 57 points against Pennsauken Tech on January 26. He finished the season averaging 35.3 points per game, and won the ESPN Sophomore of the Year award. The following year he played in 28 games. On January 31, 2000, he scored 80 points (24 of which in the fourth quarter) in a 122–66 win against Pennsauken Tech. In his junior year he was already considered one of the top players of his class. At the end of the season he had an average of 31.9 points per game. For his senior year he debuted on December 15 scoring 36 points against Eastern, followed by a 50-points performance against Bishop Eustace. 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. 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. 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 The McDonald's All-American Game is an American all-star basketball game played each year for boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the hi ...

. Wagner is considered by many to be the greatest high school basketball player in New Jersey history.Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes – Philly.com

College career

Wagner considered offers from

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

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, Memphis and Miami (FL), and signed with Memphis in June 2000. He played one year of

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at the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

. 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 A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

during the NIT semifinal. He contributed with 16 points in the title game win against

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

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. His coach,

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (; born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2 ...

, 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.

College statistics

, - , align="left" , 2001–02 , align="left" , Memphis , 36 , , 35 , , 31.8 , , .410 , , .317 , , .722 , , 2.5 , , 3.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 21.2 , -

Professional career

Cleveland Cavaliers (2002–2005)

Wagner was chosen with the sixth overall pick of the

by the

. In his rookie season he averaged 13.4 points per game and shot 36.9% from the field. 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 Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the two types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the other type being Crohn's disease. It is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary sympto ...

. The Cavaliers did not exercise their option on his contract for the 2005–06 season and subsequently Wagner was out of the league.

Golden State Warriors (2006)

Wagner's colitis condition was not amenable to medication and, after consulting with

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

head coach Larry Brown, who referred him to a New York medical expert, he underwent surgery to remove half his colon on October 25, 2005, at Mount Sinai Hospital. On September 22, 2006, Wagner signed a two-year $1.6 million contract with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

. 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 for the team. That one game that Wagner played with Golden State ended up being the only game he played in the 2006–2007 season and the final game of his NBA career. The game was played on November 11, 2006, with the Warriors defeating the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

111–79. Wagner recorded 4 points and 1 assist.

Prokom Trefl Sopot (2007)

On August 31, 2007, Wagner signed a one-year contract with Prokom Trefl Sopot in Poland. 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. However, the league folded days later, after it was discovered that the founder was a con artist. Wagner has been a resident of

West Deptford Township, New Jersey West Deptford Township (pronounced West DEP-ford) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Gloucester County, New Jersey, Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 22,19 ...

Personal life

Wagner is the son of Milt Wagner, who was a second-round pick in the 1986 NBA draft. Wagner's son, Dajuan Wagner Jr., was ranked the No. 6 basketball recruit in the country for the class of 2023, according to

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

and selected as a McDonald's All American in 2023.

References

External links

*
Dajuan Wagner
– college basketball player statistics at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Dajuan 1983 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Poland Basketball players from Camden, New Jersey Camden High School (New Jersey) alumni Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks Cleveland Cavaliers players Golden State Warriors players McDonald's High School All-Americans Memphis Tigers men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from West Deptford Township, New Jersey Point guards Arka Gdynia (basketball) players American men's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen People with ulcerative colitis