Kentucky basketball already picked up their first 2027 commitment when Ryan Hampton announced his decision back in June. That means all eyes turn to who joins him. Well, there are plenty of top targets all in action this week at Peach Jam in North Augusta and one of them may have made an arguement to be the best guard in the class.
On Thursday, Kentucky target Cayden Daughtry, who is ranked as the #11 player in the class of 2027 according to 247 Sports, made Peach Jam history with his play in what looked like the best game we’ve seen in the event in years. The 6-foot point guard put his scoring ability on display, dropping 43 points on 4-7 shooting from deep, along with five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Daughtry even hit a huge three at the buzzer to send the game to its second overtime. Unfortunately, his magic ran out as his squad fell 84-83 in what was an instant-classic and a game that will be talked about for years.
The game certainly had the entire recruiting world buzzing, but Daughtry’s play individually has to make people have conversations now about where he’s seen among the top players in the class. The five-star guard’s skills were on full display and not only that, but he has had scoring splits of 32-34-43 in three games of action so far at Peach Jam. Kentucky offered him back in May, but that interest should grow after what we’ve seen lately. It should help that Kentucky assistant Cody Fueger was in attendance for Thursday’s game and saw it all unfold.
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Daughtry has seen his stock rise all summer and Thursday’s game put all of that buzz into one bottle as he backed it all up with an elite and clutch performance. Kentucky’s other top point guard targets in the class include Beckham Black, King Gibson and Reese Alston, but the interest with Daughtry may grow even more after the spectacular week he has had. We’ll see how things play out, but the 6-foot guard’s phone has to be blowing up with coaches calling after his 43-point game. Others on Daughtry besides Kentucky include UConn, Louisville, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Florida, Miami, Florida State and others.
Kentucky certainly will start to have more competition here soon for Daughtry, especially if more blue bloods get involved. We’ll see how things play out as we head into the fall months when visits get set up, but they would be silly to not want to prioritize him more after Thursday’s performance.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/kentucky as A top Kentucky target had a historic performance at Peach Jam on Thursday.
