Meet the Messiah - star high school basketball player Dajuan Wagner plans to attend college, rather than enter the National Basketball Association - Brief Article

Basketball Digest, Summer, 2001 by Brett Ballantini

IF YOU'RE THE BEST HIGH-schooler in the country, New Jersey's top high school scorer of all time, and, as a bonus, you've scored 100 points in a high school game, you might wonder where you have left to go.

Ask that question of virtually any basketball fan, player, or scout, and you'd get a pretty clear answer: the NBA.

But Camden High School graduate and University of Memphis signee Dajuan Wagner--who has been tagged "the Messiah" by wowed fans--will give you a different answer. Topping Wagner's many accomplishments was last season's bomb-drop of 100 points in a 157-67 win over Gloucester Township Technical School ("I just played my regular game," Wagner says); he became just the 13th high-schooler to top the century mark. Many scouts see Wagner as the only prep player who could legitimately jump to the NBA, but Wagner says he won't pull an Eddie Curry or a Tyson Chandler.

"It doesn't matter what everyone says, [my future] is what I want," Wagner says. "The NBA doesn't really tempt me."

What's the challenge, then, for a 6'1", 185-pound guard who many say could play 2000-01 BASKETBALL DIGEST NBA Player of the Year Allen Iverson to a draw right now? Believe it or not, it's school.

"I'm thinking about Memphis in the fall," Wagner says. "Coach [John] Calipari and I both want to win. That's what he's about, and that's what I'm about."

You're not going to find this cool cat sweating under the pressure of a national media focus or crushed under the weight of the Tigers' future. Says Wagner: "I'm ready for all the responsibility. I've had pressure my whole career."

Like Iverson, Wagner is superquick and excels at finding his shot against bigger defenders. He's unafraid to take it to the rack, but has range that extends out nearly to the NBA arc. And like Iverson, Wagner is unafraid to challenge the big trees in the paint for boards and tip-ins.

At Memphis, Wagner will play in front of his father, Milt, who is on Calipari's staff. "My dad gives me some great advice. He's done it all, and that helps me," Wagner says. "He just wants me to go out and play hard, do my best."