There have been a few Dajuan Wagner mentions on the site over the last couple days, so I thought I’d go to the vault and remind you where all the hype came from. Last I heard, Juanny is playing pro ball in Poland.
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April 9th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
good. he belongs in poland
April 9th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Willis says:
Austin you guys should do a feature on Kevin Martin, Monta Ellis, and Brandon Roy. Or maybe Rudy Gay. Those three/four guys have the two guard position down for the next 5 or 6 years. All exciting players too.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
timdonaghy says:
*blows whistle*
Carry.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
dagwaller says:
No offense, Austin, but those highlights were from high school and the Rookie-Soph game. So we now know that he can dunk on high schoolers and can shred And1 style defense.
Not your best reminisce.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
vertman says:
So why didn’t he stay in the league?
April 9th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Yoooo says:
Uh, Dajuan Wagner for you idiots who just started watching basketball, was the #1 player in his class over a lot of NBA players today like TJ Ford. He used to have Jay-z, Jordan and all of those guys at his games 2 years before LeBron did. Having watched him in high school, he was clearly head and shoulders above EVERYONE. And he played in the best high school basketball state in the country. New Jersey (before you argue, make sure you have a boatload of stats otherwise you will be embarrassed). Unfortunately some odd health issues just took away from his promise. I dont know exactly why he had those health problems, and can only hope that the rumors that circulated around him aren’t true
April 9th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
djKianoosh says:
yeah he was nice.. didn’t he score 100 in a high school game in jersey?
the fact that guys like this don’t make it makes Iverson that much more impressive.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Big Aaron says:
I remember checking some vids of Dajuan in high school just before he was drafted and was catching flies at how awesome he was. Real shame that he never really hit that next progressive step due to health issues.
Anyone clowning on Wagner for “Dunking on high schoolers and can shred And1 style defense”, you gotta remember this isn’t an NBA player goin back to high school, he was a high schooler as well. It showed how insanely promising this guy was.
I’m glad a couple of people on here know what they’re talking about when it comes to players at that level of the game’s structure.
Great reminisce, Austin. Thanks man.
April 9th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
dagwaller says:
Uhh, you two (Aaron and yoooo) seem to miss the point of my post. I’m not dissing his ability to dunk on high schoolers or guys standing around in an all star game; it’s obvious that he can do that. So can any number of anonymous players at the high school level that didn’t pan out. In fact, if you put Dejuan Wagner into the NBA All-Star game this year, he’d probably put up some good stats. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make you a good basketball player.
What’s next, a Korleone Young video? I know of at least two big fans.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Brown says:
dagwaller, the highlights obviously don’t do him justice, but there’s probably not too many highlight reels of his NBA days since he only played half a season his first 2 years in the league.
He still put up 13.4 points in his rookie year even though he shot below 40%. It’s not about what he did particularly, it’s what he could have done before health issues derailed his NBA career.
If I can remember correctly, he had colitis (for anyone who doesn’t know what it is, look it up), which is a severely debilitating condition for any human being. He had portions of his intestine/bowel removed so he could continue playing basketball. For him to be able to play at all on any pro level is a testament to how driven he is.
Dude had a ton of promise, but we’ll never know how good he could have been. If he’d been healthy, Cleveland probably wouldn’t have LeBron right now.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
nick says:
in terms of players dominating high school ball he would put most up and coming players to shame. dude was the truth, just wish he could have stayed healthy.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
TJ says:
He accomplished things after high school. He dropped 21 a game at Memphis then had a promising rookie year. Its weird that he’s only 25. Hopefully he gets another shot at the NBA.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
sickness says:
yo dag.
the fact that he’s IN AN NBA ALL STAR GAME DOES MAKE HIM A GOOD PLAYER.how many have you played in?
thank you
April 10th, 2008 at 12:06 am
doc says:
I heard he had that hot shit.Hope that aint true.yooo if you from Jersey rep but what stat can you throw out to say Jersey the best HS basketball place.They dont have the top player or team every year or every couple so what can you say.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:10 am
J says:
Wagner had a very severe case of ulcerative colitis, an intestinal disease very similar to chrone’s disease. His case was very bad and it required him to have his colon surgically removed.
April 10th, 2008 at 8:43 am
J-Nice says:
You see that jump shot he hit???
Me neither.
April 10th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Boyez says:
That was sick …….good post austin
April 10th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Diego says:
dagwaller and other doubters, listen to the vets, Wagner was not the average highly-touted high schooler. He was clearly the no. 1 guy out of high school (I think he did put up 100 in one game), shined at Memphis for one year, was drafted fairly highly (would have been higher but generally for concerns about height, I believe), but got set back with intestine and colon issues.
His father was Milt Wagner, who shined at Louisville in the early 80s.
April 12th, 2008 at 12:54 am
marcus the great says:
not dissin cuz i remember him tearin it up in HS, but i dont think he took one jump shot in the whole clip. jus sayin…
April 12th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Big Lu says:
Didnt he drop 40 or something on iverson??? I know there is tape of that games somewhere.. AND he did have 100 in a highschool game… This dude could play.. i mean I dont know if this video exactly portays that..