Hundreds of people attend a block party at a park just before the start of the school year. They come to celebrate a young man, but mostly they come to pick up backpacks and school supplies for their children.
D.J. Wagner is a senior at the high school. Photos of him are visible from a line of banners strung from lampposts along the redeveloped waterfront, and white T-shirts with his name on them. In this hoops loving city, there is no bigger name than "Wagner", who has won many titles.
There were two before D.J. They both played in the McDonald's All-American games. The first family with three generations of players in both the high school contest and the NBA would be formed if D.J. followed in his father and grandfather's footsteps.
Camden, a city slowly rising from industrial decline and urban despair whose identity is wrapped around Camden High basketball, was the starting point for all of them. In boys basketball, The High has won 12 state titles, the most of any public school in New Jersey, and been runner-up 16 times.
There is no Camden High basketball without the Wagners, according to a former teammate of Dajuan's. Three generations have pushed the city forward.
The people of Camden have embraced D.J. and the block party is his way of giving back. He came up with the idea and got buy-in from his sponsor Nike and city officials, according to his mother.
He poses for pictures with fans and signs autographs. The school board president introduced the speaker and he thanked the crowd. He told the audience that seeing everyone in those shirts means a lot to him. We are here to have fun and have a good day.
He has a family legacy that he has made his own. In an era when many elite ballplayers choose to attend sports first private schools or jump from school to school in search of better competition and more shine, he never thought of playing anywhere else. He attended the Camden Big Picture Learning Academy, a city magnet school where students can compete on Camden High sports teams, even though he was born and raised in a Camden suburb.
He takes pride in playing for Camden. There is no better feeling.
He cannot stay in Camden forever. He will have to prove himself outside of his comfort zone as a top high school senior. The decision of where to play next affects him. He has a family name that brings pressure and a community that already salutes him as a star.
There was the grandpa.
He was a player in the Camden youth league. Clarence Turner was the coach who molded the Camden High stars into a powerhouse in the 70's and 80's. He played a game on the court at Camden High School for the first time when he was in eighth grade. Turner was watching. "That was a big deal for me." That was a lot of fun.
At a time when his city was in a downward spiral, he could sense that Camden High basketball was a vital part of the community.
He thinks that the game became more important because ofCamden's negative reputation. Everybody gets behind that bright light.
He realized how much the team meant to the city when he joined. He came back with the hug.
"After we got it started, I wasn't just representing theWagner name, I was representing our city," he said. Wherever I go, Camden is on my chest. Camden is doing something when he accomplishes something.
The slender 6-foot-5 shooting guard was a member of the Louisville team that won three Final Fours and a national championship. After winning an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers, he played overseas.
The father arrived next.
The leading scorer in New Jersey high school history is a 39-year-old man. He scored 45 points as a freshman and 100 as a senior. The top scorer for the Memphis Tigers during his lone collegiate season was the powerful 6-foot-2 guard. He was the 6th pick in the 2002 NBA draft, but injury and illness derailed his career. He was hospitalized with an inflammatory disease during the 2004-2005 season. He was out of the league after having part of his colon removed.
Dajuan decided to return to his hometown. He trained his son in the family business after moving back to Camden. Winning the state championship at Camden High is the most memorable basketball moment of Dajuan's career. Dajuan told SLAM Magazine that winning the state championship was the best thing he had ever done.
He made a point of steeping D.J. D.J. was with Dajuan at practice. He sat next to his father on the bench and cheered on the players as he soaked in the city's passion. D.J. worked out and learned the game under his father's guidance.
The son was prepared to keep the tradition going when he got to The High.
D.J., a sleek, 6-3 combo guard, averaged over 19 points a game last season as a member of the team that won the state title. Recruiters say that his savvy understanding of how to set the pace of a game is what sets him apart from the rest. He has great balance and speed.
He wants to go to college before he goes pro. Kentucky, led by his father's college coach John Calipari, and Louisville, where his grandfather was hired in May to head basketball player development and alumni relations, are widely seen as the front-runner.
He has the potential to be the biggest NBA star to come out of Camden if he chooses to do so.
It's like hitting the lottery if you go to the NBA. People here feel a sense of hope that D.J. could make it.
Camden, which is just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, used to be a manufacturing hub, making products from Navy vessels to Campbell's soup. Most of Camden's factories shut down long ago, which made it hard for the working class to find gainful employment. The city's population fell from 124,000 in 1950 to 72,000 in 2021. Camden used to be majority white, but now it's almost entirely black and Hispanic.
Camden became notorious for violent crime as its tax base waned. Many of its rowhouse neighborhoods are marked by vacant homes and litter. Much of the downtown is quiet even during business hours because of the abandoned industrial sites.
The city is rebuilding. Recent years have seen a decrease in violent crime and new jobs are emerging in health care. Camden's first hotel in a half century and a training center for the Philadelphia 76ers are among the new buildings that have risen along the waterfront.
The team is woven through the fabric of the city through the decline and rebirth of the panthers Mayor Victor Carstarphen, the school board president and a former member of the city council used to wear purple and gold. There is a former cheerleader in Camden. People here say that's more than coincidence.
"Do I think I'd be mayor if I hadn't played?" asks Carstarphen, who spent six years as a coach at The High before becoming a politician. I think that's a good question. I think it made me look better.
Camden named a street after Ron "Itchy" Smith. The gym is named after Turner, who led the team to seven state titles. At home games, people of all ages fill the bleachers, while on the road a large group of fans follow the team. You want The High? The "You got The High!" chant has been heard at the games for a long time.
D.J. was called on by Camden County to drum up support for the vaccine. He says in the video that this is his chance.
It's been said that basketball is a religion. It is part of our fabric. The difference in the community can be seen when the basketball program ends. People are happy. It just kind of goes away.
The New Jersey Scholars went to Peach Jam in July to end the Nike basketball season. The Scholars are one of the best teams on the summer circuit.
The lines form outside the gym before the court starts. Fans look down from a walking track on a higher floor to make sure they get the right size. His jump shot is off, but he still wows the crowd with his quick rushes up the court, stutter step moves and his ability to snake through the lane.
The attention seems to be no big deal forWagner, who is just a couple weeks away from winning a gold medal with the U.S. team. Between games, he laughs with his teammates, peeks in on the competition and cheers on his squad.
He has stood at the top of his recruiting class since he started high school, but he carries himself with humility even when he is on the bench. He doesn't post a lot on social media. He says that's just his personality. I'm a shy person.
Many people in the city expected D.J. to play for The High. Wasim Muhammad is the head of the school advisory board.
D.J. arrived at Camden High as it was going through a rough patch. Since Dajuan led them to the title in 2000, the panthers have not won a state title. They finished second in state tournaments eight times.
The effort to get The High back on top was led by D.J. The team brought in top players from five counties outside of Camden to help him. The players either moved to the city or attended a magnet school outside the district.
In his freshman year, he led the team to a 29-1 record and was named Freshman of the Year. The school was trying to win a state title. The state championship tournament was canceled for the second year in a row due to the swine flu.
The panthers won the state title last season. He was named the high school basketball player of the year. The city threw a victory parade for the teams that won titles in other sports.
There was a side of controversy surrounding the win. According to a report by New Jersey Advance Media, Camden broke state rules by recruiting out-of-district players and giving them low-cost tuition deals. The New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association launched an investigation that is still going on. Camden officials said the out-of- district enrolls were handled well.
Even if allegations of cheating are rarely upheld, they are not uncommon in high school sports. If it is proven that Camden broke the rules, the panthers could be in big trouble. State athletic officials banned a New Jersey high school from this year's football playoffs for recruiting a rival player and placed it on a two-year probationary period. The two coaches who were suspended are both from the same area.
Camden is ready for another championship, another season of glory for D.J., and a climb up the basketball pyramid before he begins his climb up the basketball pyramid. He is the biggest star Camden has produced and they hope to see him on top one day.
Kevin Cooke, who attended The High in the 1980s, said that the city was a poor one. It's great to see a kid doing something for himself and helping the community. We only have Camden High School basketball.
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