National rankings are fluid, but Camden N.J. star DJ Wagner, a Kentucky recruit and the son of Dajuan Wagner, is widely considered the best player in the country in the Class of 2023.
His team arrived at DePaul’s McGrath-Phillips Arena on Friday with a full entourage of fans and security and were surrounded by autograph seekers before and after knocking off Kenwood 68-54.
“Being in Chicago we knew we were going to have to come out and compete and play with energy from the start,” Wagner said. “But that’s the type of game you love. That’s what we play for. We knew what we were heading into.”
Top-ranked Kenwood, fresh of an upset loss to neighborhood rival Hyde Park on Thursday, matched Camden’s energy early. Senior Dai Dai Ames even outplayed Wagner in the first half.
Ames scored 15 in the first quarter and had 23 in the first half. He drained five three pointers and successfully attacked Wagner off the dribble. It was a fun matchup to watch.
But Ames just didn’t have enough help. Camden (13-2) focused on Ames in the second half and held him to just four points.
“I had it going in the first half,” Ames said. “My teammates should have tried to find me a bit more because I had the hot hand.”
The Kansas State recruit finished with 27 points. He made an impression on Wagner.
“He’s a good player so we had to come out in the second half and communicate better on defense against him,” Wagner said.
Wagner scored 26 points. He isn’t the only star at Camden. Seven-footer Aaron Bradshaw is also a top five player in the country and he’s a Kentucky recruit as well. Bradshaw scored six points and grabbed five rebounds.
St. Louis recruit Cian Medley added 15 points for Camden and junior Billy Richmond scored 14 and grabbed seven rebounds.
“It’s what we expected,” Kenwood coach Mike Irvin said. “They are strong and big and have seven Division 1 players.”
Irvin worked for a few months to bring Camden and Wagner to town.
“We wanted to pull off the win, but I also really wanted Chicago to see what good looks like,” Irvin said. “So many of our teams keep going out of state to play teams like this. Nobody ever wants to play them here. So, I took it on. I want to test my team. We can take some positives out of it.”
One of the positives was junior Isaiah Green. The Hillcrest transfer has been working his way into the rotation with his new team. It’s been an adjustment. He started the second half and gave Kenwood a real boost, scoring 12 points in the final two quarters.
“I let the team down against Hyde Park yesterday so I had to prove myself,” Green said. “I’m just happy they gave me another chance.”
Green thought Wagner lived up to his hype.
“He’s tough, Green said. “He showed me what a top player is and how you have to be in a game like this. I enjoyed that.”
Calvin Robins added eight points and seven rebounds for Kenwood, which had multiple starters wind up scoreless.
So, what’s next for Kenwood after consecutive losses? A trip to Lisle to face No. 4 Benet on Saturday.
“I’m going into that hostile environment and coming out with a win,” Irvin said. “I’m guaranteeing victory tomorrow.”
