Manu20
11-26-2004, 04:37 PM
CAMDEN, N.J.(AP) Dajuan Wagner often wonders how so many things went wrong at once.
An ankle injury delayed the start of his third season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That setback, however, seems far less complicated than the problems confronting him in his hometown of Camden, a city hit by drugs and poverty and where he became a basketball star.
His stepfather is on trial in a big federal drug case. A longtime friend is awaiting trial on murder charges. Wagner looms in the background of both cases. Then there's his 17-year-old sister, who fell from a school bus and fractured her skull.
"A lot of this stuff has been hard to get out of my head," Wagner said. "All I can do is hope that it makes me stronger."
Wagner became the pride of this city and one of the nation's biggest names in high school basketball when he led Camden High's Panthers to a state title as a junior. In 2001, he became New Jersey's career scoring leader in high school. He also became the first high school player in more than 20 years to score 100 points in a game _ and, according to some, a hopeless showboat.
Wagner spent one season at the University of Memphis, where he led his team to the NIT championship before leaving for the NBA.
But the 21-year-old guard keeps coming back to Camden, which sits just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia and was recently ranked the country's most dangerous city.
Wagner, a potential witness in his stepfather's drug trial, spent several days waiting outside a federal courtroom in Camden this fall. Inside the courtroom, witnesses spoke of how Wagner could be a target of violence in his hometown.
Wagner and his mother, witnesses told a jury, were said to be the targets of a kidnapping plot ordered by a jailed drug dealer in early 2002. Federal prosecutors said the plot never existed, but it became a key issue in the drug trial of Leonard "Pooh" Paulk, who married Wagner's mother, Lisa, in October 2000.
The government contends Paulk bought 20 semiautomatic weapons to protect a drug trade that he ran by hooking up suppliers and dealers and ordering murders and kidnappings. Paulk's lawyer said his client needed the weapons to protect his stepson and wife.
An ankle injury delayed the start of his third season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That setback, however, seems far less complicated than the problems confronting him in his hometown of Camden, a city hit by drugs and poverty and where he became a basketball star.
His stepfather is on trial in a big federal drug case. A longtime friend is awaiting trial on murder charges. Wagner looms in the background of both cases. Then there's his 17-year-old sister, who fell from a school bus and fractured her skull.
"A lot of this stuff has been hard to get out of my head," Wagner said. "All I can do is hope that it makes me stronger."
Wagner became the pride of this city and one of the nation's biggest names in high school basketball when he led Camden High's Panthers to a state title as a junior. In 2001, he became New Jersey's career scoring leader in high school. He also became the first high school player in more than 20 years to score 100 points in a game _ and, according to some, a hopeless showboat.
Wagner spent one season at the University of Memphis, where he led his team to the NIT championship before leaving for the NBA.
But the 21-year-old guard keeps coming back to Camden, which sits just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia and was recently ranked the country's most dangerous city.
Wagner, a potential witness in his stepfather's drug trial, spent several days waiting outside a federal courtroom in Camden this fall. Inside the courtroom, witnesses spoke of how Wagner could be a target of violence in his hometown.
Wagner and his mother, witnesses told a jury, were said to be the targets of a kidnapping plot ordered by a jailed drug dealer in early 2002. Federal prosecutors said the plot never existed, but it became a key issue in the drug trial of Leonard "Pooh" Paulk, who married Wagner's mother, Lisa, in October 2000.
The government contends Paulk bought 20 semiautomatic weapons to protect a drug trade that he ran by hooking up suppliers and dealers and ordering murders and kidnappings. Paulk's lawyer said his client needed the weapons to protect his stepson and wife.