Dajuan Wagner

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DaJuan Wagner
Nickname The Messiah
Position Point guard
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg)
League PLK, Euroleague
Team Prokom Trefl Sopot
Born February 4, 1983 (1983-02-04) (age 25)
Camden, New Jersey
Nationality USA
College Memphis
Draft 6th overall, 2002
Cleveland Cavaliers
Pro career 2002–present
Former teams Cleveland Cavaliers (2002–2005)
Golden State Warriors (2006)
Awards 2001 Naismith Prep Player of the Year

DaJuan Marquett Wagner (born on February 4, 1983 in Camden, New Jersey) is an American professional basketball player, currently playing for Polish champions Prokom Trefl Sopot.

Wagner is the son of former University of Louisville and NBA player Milt Wagner. Forced out of the league by debilitating health problems early into his career, he is currently making a professional comeback after undergoing major surgery to remove his colon.

Wagner had a phenomenal career at Camden High School and is perhaps better remembered for scoring 100 points in a high school game than his exploits at the collegiate and professional levels. He averaged 42.5 points as a senior, scored 3,462 points in high school (the most in New Jersey high school history, breaking former highschool star, Lorne Singleton scoring record of 3,451 points) and scored 25 points in the McDonald's All-American Game.[1]

He played one year of college basketball at the University of Memphis before being drafted with the sixth overall pick of the 2002 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Often compared to Allen Iverson for his scoring ability, he had mixed success in his rookie season; although he averaged 13.4 points per game, he shot only 36.9% from the field. Wagner was hampered by injuries and health problems thereafter. He averaged a career low 4.0 points in only 11 games played during the 2004-05 season, and was hospitalized for ulcerative colitis. The Cavaliers did not exercise their option on his contract for the 2005-06 season and subsequently Wagner was out of the league.

His colitis condition was not amenable to medication and, after consulting with New York Knicks head coach Larry Brown, who referred him to a New York medical expert, Wagner underwent surgery to remove his entire colon on October 25, 2005 at Mount Sinai Hospital.

In April 2006, Dajuan began training with former high school rival, Omar Wellington at Nexxt Level Sports in Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey. During his recovery, he was featured in the Philadelphia Daily News and on Comcast SportsNet both reported that he would be attempting a comeback for the 2006 season.

On September 22, 2006 he signed a two-year contract with the Golden State Warriors. On November 20, two months after the former college star recovered from a serious illness to make an NBA comeback, the Warriors bought out his contract.[2]

Draft Express, in a rundown of former NBA players, said that he would be moving to Polish team Prokom Trefl Sopot. [3] On August 31, 2007 Wagner signed a one-year contract with Prokom.[4][5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Strauss, Robert. " IN PERSON; Hoop Dreams Revisit Camden", The New York Times, February 13, 2000. Accessed April 6, 2008.
  2. ^ ESPN - Warriors release little-used guard Wagner - NBA
  3. ^ DraftExpress: Player Movement on the European Summer Market
  4. ^ Prokom signs point guard Wagner - On-Court - Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL
  5. ^ Dajuan Wagner in Prokom Trefl! August 31, 2007

[edit] External links

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