DJ Wagner could be on your TV before he plays his first game for Kentucky basketball

The presumptive face of Kentucky basketball for the 2023-24 season might be coming to your television screen before he ever plays a game for the Wildcats.

DJ Wagner, one of the star recruits on UK’s next roster, was one of 10 athletes selected for a national advertising campaign from Dick’s Sporting Goods, and a commercial starring the 18-year-old phenom was scheduled to be released Thursday.

Wagner was ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class for much of his high school career, and he remains both a top-10 national prospect and a major part of John Calipari’s 2023-24 plans now that his prep career is finished.

The 6-foot-3 freshman is expected to be UK’s starting point guard next season, and his dynamic play, family backstory and one-and-done NBA lottery pick potential should make him one of the biggest stars — and perhaps the most-hyped player — on the Wildcats’ roster.

The 30-second spot for Dick’s Sporting Goods explores Wagner’s family connection to Camden High School in New Jersey, where both his father (Dajuan Wagner) and grandfather (Milt Wagner) were star players before embarking on successful college careers, and then stints in the NBA.

Dajuan Wagner was Calipari’s first major recruit at Memphis and the No. 6 overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Milt Wagner is one of the greatest players in the University of Louisville’s program history, a 1986 NCAA champion with the Cardinals, and a second-round pick in that year’s NBA Draft. The eldest Wagner also worked on Calipari’s staff when Dajuan was a player at Memphis and is currently on Coach Kenny Payne’s staff at U of L.

The TV commercial depicts DJ Wagner shooting on a Camden basketball court.

“I’ve been connected to Camden High basketball since I was very young,” he says to begin the ad. “Dad played here. Grandpa played here. And then there was me.”

The commercial is part of Dick’s Sporting Goods’ “Sports Change Lives” campaign, which features 10 different Nike-affiliated athletes sharing the ways in which sports have changed their lives. The first wave of ads — starring NBA legend Carmelo Anthony, WNBA standout Sabrina Ionescu and future baseball hall of famer Mike Trout — was released this month.

Wagner is the youngest of the 10 athletes selected for the ad campaign. He signed a name, image and likeness deal with Nike before the start of his senior season of high school.

Each athlete selected was also tasked with nominating a youth sports organization to receive a $75,000 donation as part of Dick’s Sporting Goods’ “75for75” initiative. Wagner said he would direct his grant to the Camden High athletic department.

Wagner was the most valuable player of this year’s McDonald’s All-American Game and finished the recruiting cycle as the No. 6 overall prospect in the 2023 class, according to the 247Sports rankings.

He won’t be the first Wildcat to be featured in a national TV spot this year. Former UK forward Jacob Toppin was the star of an AT&T commercial that launched during the NCAA Tournament.

Wagner will first hit the court for Kentucky in a series of exhibition games at the GLOBL JAM event in Canada next month. He arrived on UK’s campus this month and has already been taking part in team workouts in preparation for that trip.

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