Kentucky freshman is proving to be a vocal leader

Wildcat freshman has taken a leadership role on the Kentucky basketball team.

The Kentucky Wildcats have another big week of basketball coming up. 

Kentucky will be looking to rebound from an ugly 0-2 week where the Wildcats lost two games in Rupp Arena. Kentucky will head to Nashville this week to play the Vanderbilt Commodores and then host the Gonzaga Bulldogs for an exciting non-conference game. They need to bounce back from the 0-2 week with two wins this week. The schedule will not lighten up for Kentucky as they still have trips to Auburn and Tennessee, playing two of the best teams in the SEC. 

During the 0-2 week last week, Kentucky was playing without their starting point guard, DJ Wagner. During SEC play, Wagner has gotten himself going, getting to the rim and scoring at a high volume. One thing that stood out to me was watching Wagner on the bench when he wasn't playing with the ankle injury. He was the first player to stand up when Kentucky made a basket and was helping coach up Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham. This shows that Wagner is a leader on this team, which will be something NBA teams love to hear during the draft process. 

Kentucky guard Sheppard had this to say about Wagner, “Yeah. DJ is a great teammate. He's very vocal on the court. And he does everything that we need him to do. You know, he's really good at keeping guys on the game. And then, on defense and offense, he's just a dog. So, he's really fun to play with. But you know we got to win without him as well. So, we'll keep working, and we'll keep getting better, and we'll keep fighting as a team, and this game isn’t going to define the rest of the season. It's a long season.”

Wagner is still fighting back from an ankle injury and likely won't suit up against Vanderbilt, but his return is expected soon. He is averaging 12 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals on the season.