Rick Pitino and John Calipari will not be the only two familiar foes meeting on Saturday afternoon when the St. John’s basketball team battles Arkansas during the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
Guards Simeon Wilcher and D.J. Wagner also have a history together.
The two New Jersey standouts battled each other three times during their high school careers with Wilcher’s Roselle Catholic team getting the upper hand on Wagner’s Camden squad in the most important matchup, the last ever NJSIAA Boys Basketball Tournament of Champions title game in 2023.
Given the stakes, it might have been the best game in Wilcher’s pre-college career with 22 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
“We all know D.J. is a great player and he’s been a great player since forever,” Wilcher said on Friday about his pending opponent.
“It’s a full circle moment to have the opportunity to play on the biggest stage in college.”
Wagner’s team won twice in their meetings but both players shined in each game and earned many recruiting accolades in the process, including the Camden superstar winning the New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year in his final three years of high school.
Wagner finished the year as the No. 6 player in the 247Sports recruiting rankings and commit to play for John Calipari at Kentucky before following him to Arkansas after his freshman season.
Wilcher, originally committed to North Carolina, decommitted in the spring semester of his senior year of high school before becoming the highest ranked recruit to join Rick Pitino in his first year with the Red Storm.
Simeon Wilcher didn’t consider D.J. Wagner a rival during their high school days, but the Arkansas standout had a different tone.
“You could say that,” he said when asked if he considered the two rivals years ago. “In Jersey, anybody you play is going to be a rival, but that’s just how we treat the game of basketball.”
There’s a chance Wilcher guards Wagner to begin the game for St. John’s with the likelihood that Kadary Richmond draws the assignment on Johnell Davis and RJ Luis gets Karter Knox.
It would be a key matchup in the highly anticipated game and one that could have a big factor in the outcome.
“He’s a great player and likes to get downhill, so I just have to keep my chest in front the best that I could,” Wilcher said about the possible defensive assignment.
Both players shined for their respective team in the Round of 64 with Wagner putting up 14 points for Arkansas in its win over Kansas and Wilcher’s 13 points for St. John’s against Omaha as each team will be looking for a similar showing when they take the court in Providence.