![\"DJ](\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/lagway-aug26.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
DJ Lagway<\/a> is finally home.<\/p>\n The former five-star prospect grew up around Baylor, thanks to his dad, Derek Lagway (BSED ’01), who played running back for the Bears between 1997-2001. A generation later, the bright lights of the SEC initially drew DJ to the University of Florida. But after two years as the starter there, Lagway traded the orange and blue for the green and gold in January, and he will be Baylor’s starting quarterback this fall.<\/p>\n Lagway’s bloodline and high school rankings have been the headlines. But before the Bears kick off this fall, get to know the junior quarterback who seemed destined to play at Baylor:<\/p>\n A Baylor Family Affair:<\/strong> In BU’s early days in the Big 12 Conference, it was DJ\u2019s dad, Derek, who was well-known to Bear fans, serving as one of the Bears’ top running backs for four seasons. When DJ was born, Derek quickly introduced him to the green and gold. As a child, he toured Baylor football facilities with his father, attending practices and camps and making regular trips between his hometown in Willis, Texas (north of Houston), to Waco to cheer on the Bears.<\/p>\n An Elite Prospect:<\/strong> Following his father\u2019s path to football, DJ became a sensation at Willis — passing for 8,000+ yards and 100 touchdowns, and running for nearly 2,200 more yards and 29 more scores. As a senior, he set a Texas Class 6A record<\/a> by throwing an astounding 58 touchdown passes en route to being named Texas’ Mr. Football, the 2023 Gatorade National Player of the Year, and a consensus top quarterback in his class.<\/p>\n A Multi-talented Student-Athlete:<\/strong>\u00a0In addition to his prowess on the gridiron, Lagway was also an excellent baseball player at Willis. A versatile two-way performer, he earned baseball scholarship offers from schools like LSU and Arkansas. At Willis, he was known as a strong student<\/a> as well as a student-athlete. In the community, he volunteered at a local food bank and eldercare facility, and even employed a unique skill at church — using basic sign language he learned as a child to sign along to Christian songs.<\/p>\n A Top Transfer and a Leader:<\/strong>\u00a0After two seasons at Florida, in which Lagway threw for 4,179 yards and 23 touchdowns, Lagway chose Baylor to continue his college football career. The move brought Baylor both a quarterback and a leader. In a fascinating piece on Lagway<\/a> by CBS Sports<\/em> college football writer (and Baylor alum) Shehan Jeyarajah (BA ’16), Lagway\u2019s leadership and work ethic shine through. For instance: Lagway arranged for teammates to join him this summer at practices in Florida — practices which began at 5 a.m. Head coach Dave Aranda says Lagway grew as a leader throughout the offseason<\/a>, and his work ethic was on display in summer workouts. Lagway\u2019s commitment to Christ was also demonstrated in a public way this spring when he and three teammates were baptized<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lagway has earned numerous preseason recognitions, but it all begins for real on Sept. 5, when Baylor takes on Auburn in a nationally televised game in Atlanta (2:30 p.m. CT, ABC).<\/p>\n Sic \u2019em, DJ Lagway!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DJ Lagway is finally home. The former five-star prospect grew up around Baylor, thanks to his dad, Derek Lagway (BSED ’01), who played running back for the Bears between 1997-2001. A generation later, the bright lights of the SEC initially drew DJ to the University of Florida. But after two years as the starter there, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-athletics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25266"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25271,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25266\/revisions\/25271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}