Last month, on a rainy Tuesday afternoon just before Christmas, Dajuan Wagner strolled into a Cherry Hill gym. It was only a minute or two before tip-off of a game between Camden High and Cherry Hill East, and he sat close to the door, at the very end of the first row of bleachers, shaking a hand or two and nodding back at some folks who recognized him - the greatest high school player New Jersey's ever seen.
»Read story: Finding Dajuan
»Read story: Finding Dajuan
Comments (56)
Really sad story. These one in a million talents are always one big injury away from unemployment. They have a playing window of about 10 years, a physical peak of about 5 or 6 years in which they have to earn a large portion of their lifetime income, and still some people gripe that they earn millions. The talent level necessary to become an NBA player is ridiculous compared to the risk-reward. If I were as talented at my job as these guys, but was only allowed to work for 10 years (only earning max dollars for less than half that time), losing my chances for a college education at the same time, I surely would expect a salary of a million dollars AT MINIMUM. Do the math.— goeagles87- Beautiful work, Jason.— Kevin Riordan
- This article reminded me of another great talent that never panned out. Loyd "Sweat Pea'' Daniels. Daniels was considered the best talent to come out of new York since Lew Alcindor (Jabbar), but was always in trouble, it seemed. He was in 5 high schools in 3 different states and it was reported he couldn't read above a third grade level. But the 6-7 shooting guard could score with anybody and he showed briefly in the NBA.— EL Zorro
- Nice story. Hard to believe he's still only 28. Hope he can get back on the court. You see other guys coming out of virtually nowhere these days, so if his body can hold up...— dblankj
- Nice story. Hard to believe he's still only 28. Hope he can get back on the court. You see other guys coming out of virtually nowhere these days, so if his body can hold up...— dblankj
- Nice story. Hard to believe he's still only 28. Hope he can get back on the court. You see other guys coming out of virtually nowhere these days, so if his body can hold up...— dblankj
Excellent piece here. Way to keep up with it, and I wish Wagner the best.— gordon7- I find it hard to feel sorry for guys like DuJuan. The poor choices that he and other talented young men like him make,always come with consequences.Choosing to adhere to The Code Of The Streets,when they have every opportunity to better themselves and make a better life for their families,remains the ongoing narrative with these guys,that over time becomes tiring.— bkg126
- Hold ON. What poor choices did DeJuan make again??? Did he decide to have a messed up colon while dealing on the streets or something?? How the heck does a medical issue have ANYTHING to do with making poor choices on the streets???
Initially i thought this was one of those stories but NO, it's not and DON'T twist it up and make it out to be.— OurCity2000 - I remember being at Roman Catholic when Eddie Griffin was the national story. He was the same age as Dajuan, I believe. Both tragic cases, although Eddie's story ended a little worse. There's still time for Wagner's story to turn around.— SeanMan
- nice story. never heard of him though. wish him the best— IcanTakeit
Comment removed.- You want to keep him from scoring 100 points? PLAY DEFENSE.
Do you think Pretty boy Tom Brady or Troy Aikman or even Buddy Ryan would stop scoring just because they felt sorry for you?— OurCity2000 - la, what the heck are you talking about. I am sure half the people I saw on TV waiting around for a bus after hurricane Katrina had a ton of "class".
- Good story. It's unfortunate his body gave out on him. That's why it pays to stay in school and get an education while playing basketball. Then he'd at least have a backup plan. Also whatever happened to Kevin Walls?— AvoidSundanceVacations
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