For most high school basketball programs, graduating two 5-star recruits, including a generational player and 2,000-point scorer DJ Wagner, would likely result in a rebuild year the following season.
But at Camden High School, where basketball has always been king, the Panthers aren’t ready to turn over the crown.
The purple and gold doesn’t rebuild. It reaches higher.
Coming off a 23-3 campaign, the Panthers had to reform their roster after the graduation of D.J. Wagner (Kentucky), Aaron Bradshaw (Kentucky), Dasear Haskins (Saint Joseph’s) and Cian Medley (Saint Louis).
The Panthers haven’t lost a dribble in the transition this season. The team is 15-2 following Tuesday’s 72-46 victory over Paul VI and is considered the top-ranked team, as well as one of the state’s elite by several media outlets. Camden also earned the top seed in the upcoming Camden County Tournament.
Maalik Wayns, who is in his second year as head coach, believes the pride that comes with wearing the Camden jersey is a factor on the team’s success thus far.
“We got great kids that buy into our culture,” Wayns said. “Buying into being something bigger than them. They know what Camden basketball means. They know the pride the whole city takes in it. They come out here, have fun and live up to that standard.”
Despite the impressive record, there have been some obstacles that the Panthers had to overcome this season. The biggest one was getting several transfer players acclimated to the Camden system.
“We had some guys that had to sit out early due to the transfer rules,” says Wayns. “Getting the team to jell together and be one was an issue because we had some guys that came late. It’s a fresh team because we lost about eight or nine guys from last year. Our main goal is to be the best team we can be by the end of the year and I think we’re taking the steps to do that.”
With the departure of big-name recruits, that meant big shoes needed to be filled.
Wayns praised several of his players for how they’ve stepped up as leaders.
“Teron Murray, Billy Richmond and Alijah Curry. Those three are like our captains,” said Wayns. “They really have been leading us, especially Teron. I’m really proud of him. We usually have Sundays off and he wanted us to have practice Sunday because we didn’t play as well against Camden Catholic (a 42-40 win on Jan. 25) and it paid off.”
Murray is a senior guard who has played varsity all four years of his high school career at Camden. He has seen players come and go as he discuss how quickly this new core had to come together for this season.
“We had a lot of transfers. That was definitely the biggest challenge,” Murray said. “It’s not that easy to come together over the summer but for us to do it, it’s a very special thing.”
Murray gave credit to Wayns as a huge factor in the team’s continued success this season.
“Coach Wayns brings that coaching style that enables us to go out there and dominate,” Murray said. “At first, a lot of guys weren’t buying in but once everyone bought in, we started to see the difference in our performances.”
Murray, who is averaging 10.7 points per game, has an offer from Saint Joseph’s and is drawing interest from several programs including La Salle and Coppin State.
Richmond is the next 5-star recruit from Camden who will be taking his talents to Lexington next season. Richmond will be sporting Kentucky blue and white, joining Wagner and Bradshaw.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Richmond is all about the brotherhood aspect of basketball and believes building a bond on and off the court helped new members helped smooth out the transition.
“We wanted the new guys to buy in and get to know our program,” said Richmond, who leads the team with an 18.1 scoring average. “We looked sloppy in the beginning because they were still new but we picked it up in practice and built solid chemistry on and off the court.”
Camden is looking forward to playing for a state title again later this winter. The Panthers, who won a state title and the final Tournament of Champions title in 2022, were denied the opportunity last season when an altercation on the court against Eastside during the Camden County Tournament title game led the school board to pull both teams from the postseason.
Camden will host crosstown rival Eastside on Thursday before a big showdown with Hudson Catholic on Saturday.
Christopher Zeigler is a freelance reporter for the Courier-Post. He can be reached at [email protected]