Dajuan Wagner
From Hoopedia
Dajuan Wagner (born on February 4, 1983 in Camden, New Jersey) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA, currently a free agent.
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 an NBA 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 prep history), and scored 25 points in the McDonald's All-American Game at Duke. 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 a promising rookie season averaging 13.4 points per game but 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. He is currently in the stages of recovery and plans to return to the NBA as soon as he is able.
In April 2006, Dajuan began training with former high school rival, Omar Wellington at Nexxt Level Sports in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He has been recently featured in the Philadelphia Daily News and on Comcast SportsNet both reported that he will 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.
