Milt Wagner: Camden Pride

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While I was scrutinizing basketball recent effect on atheltes within the past decade, I noticed that it has become more of a marketing and advertising business than a simple enjoyment for some players. There was once a time where love for the game was displayed in the games and the characters of the players. Basketball players played not so much for the ladies, or the money, or the fame but because they loved the game. Sometimes I feel like the media and colleges put too much pressure on incoming players, taking some of the enjoyment out of basketball. Even the excessive media coverage sometimes gets to these players’ heads causing them to be overly flamboyant and narcissistic. As a result of this, I thought of some players back in the 80′s who I thought personally set a good example of how great players should be: talented, humble, yet still had love for the game.

One of the first players that came up in my mind was retired American Basketball player Milton “Milt” Wagner. This Camden High School star was once, and still is, considered one of the top players during his basketball career. He was named to the 1981 All-American team alongside players such as Michael Jordan, has a retired jersey at Lousville and won a National Championship with the 1987 Los Angeles Lakers. Yet, even through all of his success, he still stayed humble and proudly represented his city, Camden, even though people viewed his hometown negatively; even so till this day. But, it doesn’t end there my friends because now Milt Wagner is the Assistant Coach at Auburn; originally assistant coach at UTEP. When Milt Wagner can not play himself, he still assists the youth in basketball so that they are able to accomplish as much as he did. Perfect example of one of his “upbringings” is his own son Dajuan Wagner. Like father, like son, Dajuan Wagner was very successful in college basketball and that allowed him to continue his career in the NBA. With the combination of Milt and Dajuan’s career and success, I got in touch with Milt Wagner and was able to do an interview with him to see how things are going with him today. Even when answers my questions. he is just as proud and content as he was back then.

Check out the interview below!

Milt Wagner’s Experience at the McDonald All-American, Repping his city: Camden, New Jersey

It was great for me to be able to play with some of the best players in the country all in one day. It was unbelievable, considering I had Michael Jordan, Chris Mullin, and many talented players on my team. These were guys who went on to become great NBA players. For me, I can sit back and reminisce. I still have a picture on my wall of my McDonald All-American team. It was a great honor to play with those guys especially when I was only in high school. I can sit back now and say “Hey, all these guys were on my team and I got to play with the best guys in the NBA and Michael Jordan was one of the best to players in the game so, it was a great honor.

It was also good to represent my city of Camden, New Jersey in the game and I think I was the 1st person from my city and high school to play in the McDonald. I was pretty excited about that, being able to represent my high school and city.

1981 McDonald All-American

Career at the University of Louisville

Not too many people can say that they had a career in college where they played in 3 final fours out of their 4 years. Your career can’t be better than that. Playing college was a great experience, it was the best experience of my life and I would never forget it. Winning a championship is a once in a lifetime experience and winning 3 out of my 4 years was great.

Jersey Being Retired at Louisville

It was very good for me considering they recognized all the stuff I had accomplished when I was at Louisville. To be able to retire my jersey is just a great honor showing me how they appreciated everything I did for the university. It was just a great feeling for me.

Experience as an Assistant Coach at UTEP; Now: Assistant Coach at Auburn

It’s fun. You know, I like going out there and seeing the top talent in the country. Basically, you have to persuade those kids and tell them why your university would be the best university for that kid to attend. It’s also fun to see all the top talented players in the country play against one another and then going out to recruit them. I’m still in the business, I’m in the life that I wanted to do and now I’m on the other side of the recruiting and I know what those kids are looking for because I was one of those kids back then and I have a son who was one of those kids. So, I know what they are looking for and so, I have fun going out there and recruiting these kids.

Thoughts and Feelings On His Son: Dajaun Wagner

I was just as proud as a father could be because my son, growing up always, wanted to do what his father did. He was around it all his life and all through my career. He got to see me when I was at Louisville; I was 20 years old when I had him. He saw me with the Lakers, he saw me through my career and always wanted to play basketball. He was one of those players that you knew he was going to be a special and talented player. As a 5 year old, he was pretty much shooting 3′s and you could tell this kid would be special. All the hard work he put in to get to that draft day made me so proud. All his hard work paid off in the end for him and he really worked hard for it.

What Recruits Look For in Colleges

Players look at the style of the university, they look at the coaching staff, who is on the coaching staff, basically coaches background and what they accomplished throughout their career. Also, they look at what guys are there or if the school has any guys that made it to the professional level out of their program. They look at academics, such as the percentage of guys who graduated, that is a big key. Parents are really strong on those points. The recruits look at if they would be successful there, the schedule, and the conference. There are a lot of things they look at for the college that plays a huge factor. They will see if they will be able to play at the university with the talent that is already there. Playing style, how the university was like before, and the exposure they can get, academically if the guys graduate. Some kids do it different, some want to be close to home and some it doesn’t matter. A lot of things will determine recruiting and where they want to go to school.

Favorite Player He Coached

I would have to say Stefan Jackson, kid from Philadelphia who just graduated. He ended up as the All-Time Leading Scorer at the university and the All-Time Leading Scorer in our conference. We didn’t have him in his first year but we had him in his last 3 years. He was a Philly kid and it was an honor to see him progress, get the accolades he got, and accomplish many things while he was under us. We still have some guys who are still under us that haven’t graduated yet that I enjoy coaching. Stefan is gone but he is playing over in Greece right now. A lot of guys to, be truthful, I like coaching. I like coaching all the guys but he stands out because of how his career went for me.

Favorite Player to Watch as Director of Memphis

My son, I would have to say. I had him for that one year and the progress he made just from high school to him going there was great. We, as a family, thought he would play 2 years and then go to the draft. He got so much better by the end of the first year that people and all the scouts thought he wouldn’t go no lower than the 8th player in the draft. Dajuan ended up going as #6. To really answer your questions, I would have to say my son because I saw him in high school and in high school he was pretty much better than everyone else. In college you have people better than you so it is harder but he kept himself above and put in the extra work and got better. So, by the end of the year, he played better than anyone else in the country. I would say as Director of Memphis, my favorite player to watch is my son.

1986 Dallas Mavericks < 1987 Los Angeles Lakers.

Well, actually it would have to be Lakers because I got waived by the Mavericks. They drafted me than soon after they waived me. The next year, the Los Angeles picked me up as a free agent and I won an NBA championship with them. So, that made it even sweeter; I would have so say LA Lakers.

Spectator vs. Playing

It gets harder because sometimes I want to go out and get the job done myself as a player. But, I know I can’t. When you were once a player, you are so use to being out there and making the plays. Now, you are trying to coach the guys who are out there to go out and make plays. It is different and it is a little hard because you can’t do it for the guys so, you have to coach them. It makes it even more challenging to get guys to go out there and do the things that you would do as a player and do what you would do as a player. I know at times I wish I could suit up and go out but I know and you know I can’t hahaha

What We Don’t Know About Milt Wagner

Well, actually Dajuan and I are some of the nicest people you will ever meet outside of basketball. My son is pretty much like me; we are really humble people who would give the shirts off our backs if we had to. The fame and all that stuff has never changed us and we have always been dedicated to our city. We are proud of that and we try to go out and make our city happy. People try to say negative things about our city, Camden, but we go out and set an example for our city. We are the same people we were in high school and we just go out and make better ourselves and just make our family, friends and city proud.

I would personally like to thank Milt Wagner for taking time out of his schedule to answer my questions and talk to me on the phone. I say “Good Luck” to him with his new position as the Assistant Coach at Auburn.

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