Former Arkansas guard DJ Wagner reportedly transfers to Big Ten program
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Former Arkansas guard DJ Wagner has already experienced transferring during his collegiate career, and he’s now apparently chosen a third college destination in a brand new conference.
According to a report on Saturday morning by On3’s Joe Tipton, Wagner has committed to Maryland for next season, meaning his 3-year run in the SEC would be over. The 6-foot-4 Wagner, who came out of Camden, N.J., as a high-profile recruit, began his whirlwind college basketball career with 1 season at Kentucky in 2023-24 before spending the past 2 seasons playing for John Calipari at Arkansas.
Calipari has had Wagner for all 3 of his collegiate seasons, since his last season as head coach at Kentucky was Wagner’s first season at the college level. But after 3 seasons playing for Calipari in 2 different SEC stops, Wagner is reportedly heading to the Big Ten to play for Buzz Williams, who will be trying to bounce back from last season’s 12-21 disaster in College Park.
Wagner has 1 season of eligibility remaining, and he’ll apparently spend that last season closer to his New Jersey roots.
He was a crucial part of Calipari’s rotation this past season, helping the Hogs capture the SEC Tournament crown and advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Wagner made 35 appearances in all for Arkansas in 2025-26, including 19 starts. He averaged 7.4 points, 2.4 assists and 1.6 rebounds while playing 23.6 minutes per game. Wagner shot a career-best 34.6% from 3-point territory.
Wagner’s scoring average did dip this past season, after he averaged a career-high 11.2 points per game during his first season at Arkansas in 2024-25.
His impact at the college level was felt immediately during that first season playing for Calipari at Kentucky, where he started in all but 1 of his 29 appearances with the Wildcats before following Calipari to Fayetteville. Wagner averaged 9.9 points and 3.3 assists during his true freshman season in Lexington.
Arkansas won the SEC Tournament title this past season, but the Razorbacks have bigger things in mind for next season after advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2025-26. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the top teams in the mix to cut down the nets next April:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
