MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Dajuan Wagner was in the drills like everyone else, running a weave during a 2-on-1 fast break, working within the halfcourt offense, competing in defensive workstations.

He even took jump shots like every Memphis teammate. And he missed more than half. He was human.

	Dajuan Wagner isn't shy about shooting, yet knows his success at Memphis won't be predicated on scoring.

He didn't wear a cape. No 'S' on his chest. Sure, Wagner scored 100 points in a high school basketball game for Camden (N.J.) last season and he was a viable candidate to be the first possible point guard to jump from high school to the NBA. But, he didn't go pro, and now he's in college, entering his collegiate career as the preseason favorite for freshman of the year.

But it's hard to determine just how good he'll be in college. He's a game player and practice hasn't always been his thing, mainly because he hasn't had to worry about it too much.

He was the offense at Camden. He was everything. He didn't have to condition, if at all.

"Never like we do here," Wagner said.

But the Wagner legend is already reaching mythical proportions in Memphis. His teammates were there in the preseason pickup games. They know what the rest of the nation can expect.

"He's lived up to his expectations," Memphis senior forward Kelly Wise said. "He's a playmaker and takes the opportunity to score when he wants."

"He will take over games, whenever he wants," said Memphis sophomore forward Arthur Barclay, who was ineligible last season but played with Wagner his senior year at Camden when Wagner averaged 31.9 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Wagner averaged 42.5 points as a senior and left as New Jersey's all-time scoring leader with 3,462 points.

"He's so strong and athletic," Memphis sophomore guard Antonio Burks said. "I don't think he can be stopped. Everything everyone says about him is true. Once he gets into coach Cal's (John Calipari) system he'll score 40 or 50."

With all due respect to his teammates, Wagner probably won't pile up the points like they think. And this isn't a knock on Wagner. It's just Memphis is a team that has one of the top junior college transfers in 6-8, 260-pound Chris Massie, not to mention one of the best talents returning in Conference USA -- Kelly Wise.

But here's what can be expected of Wagner: He will score in a variety of ways. Calipari is likely going to start Burks at point guard and Wagner at co-point or shooting guard. Give the ball to Wagner to start the offense and the fear is that it won't come back, even if he says he intends on being more of a playmaker. He was unselfish in practice, but that's largely because he's doing what he's told to get everyone involved. He will be given the freedom to roam, because he can.

Wagner says he'll score based on whatever the defense gives him. If they back off, he'll shoot. If they come up close, he'll drive. Like the Sixers' Allen Iverson?

"I consider myself that," Wagner said. "He's not really the point guard, but a shooting guard. But at times you've got the ball in your hands and can score anywhere on the floor."

Calipari was an assistant with the Sixers two seasons ago. But he likens Wagner more to Isiah Thomas because of his ability to create contact on drives, rather than, he says, the way Iverson avoids the contact and then makes a spectacular play while landing awkwardly at times on the court.

"He doesn't have the blinding speed like Iverson," Calipari said. "They're both streaky shooters, but both can handle the ball. Dajuan can be a better defender of the two because he weighs 200 and Allen probably only ways 175. He's learning how to play defense and playing more without the ball. He also never had to pass last year because he was trying to win -- and winning meant him scoring. He's making plays for teammates now."

Wagner said the 100-point game was an example of what Calipari is speaking of

"I was hot and was just playing my regular game," said Wagner, who admits he was a lazy defensive player in high school. "But I never thought I could (score 100 points). Maybe in middle school, but not high school."

"The amazing thing is he could have scored 140 because he came out with four minutes left," Calipari said. "Everyone asks me if I'll let him score 100. Only if it's against (TCU's) Billy Tubbs, because if he had a player who could, he would."

Wagner doesn't talk about leaving early, other than to say he wasn't ready for the travel in the NBA. But Calipari isn't hiding from the discussion. Even though Wagner's father, Milt, is the director of basketball operations at Memphis, the "director Dajuan Wagner" is his mother Lisa Paulk.

"His mother knows he can physically do things in the league, but she said she's got a car, a job and a house and doesn't need him to provide for her," Calipari said. "She wants him to stay two years. We'll evaluate it at the end of the year. I want to ensure that when he leaves here, he develops good habits and is more self-disciplined, a better defender and has a better understanding of the game.

"Sure, he would have been drafted 10, 11, 12 or 13. But what if he went to a team that had another guard and he had to sit? He's never had to sit in his life."

Wagner will certainly start at Memphis, next to Burks and that's where the Tigers' success this season may begin or end. If the two can coexist -- and that means Burks not driving to the basket without giving the ball up on the wing or inside as much as he does in practice -- then the Tigers can ride Wagner's true talents deep in the NCAA Tournament.

"He's not an issue, he's the solution," Calipari said of Wagner. "Everybody has to be willing to play off him. He's not the kind of guy to get a big head and the issue will be conditioning for him. If he's not able to take himself out of the game, then I will."

Although, probably not too often.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.