KSR’s final takeaways from 2026 Nike EYBL Peach Jam

The 2026 high school recruiting class did not go as planned for Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats, who put all their eggs in the Tyran Stokes basket and came away empty-handed. Their portal pivot finished with a massive win — arguably Pope’s biggest to date — in the form of Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic, and then he followed it up with his first top-20 high school pledge in 2027 shooting guard Ryan Hampton, but the staff hit the trail hard in the final live period of July in an effort to keep that momentum rolling. KSR joined the coaches in North Augusta at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam, staying from Wednesday to Sunday and watching all of Kentucky’s top targets for ’27 and beyond. The headliner, obviously, was Cayden Daughtry‘s historic individual run to help lead the Florida Rebels to a championship, but that wasn’t the only takeaway from the Riverview Park Activities Center. What do you need to know about our five days in the gym? KSR’s got you covered. Kentucky staff divides and conquers — with a statement start for Pope When the live period opened early Thursday morning, we were fairly surprised to see Cody Fueger walk through the door alone — at least to start. That’s because Pope went out of his way to spend his first day in Bryan, Texas, at Puma PRO16 for 2027 five-star point guard Reese Alston alongside Mikhail McLean. Now, part of it had to do with obvious logistics, checking out a priority furthest away before spending the rest of his time bouncing back and forth between North Augusta for Peach Jam and Rock Hill for adidas 3SSB Championships, but it’s still a statement for Pope to be front and center on day one for a single recruit. Even when Pope had to leave for South Carolina, McLean stuck around for Alston, making sure Kentucky representation was there from start to finish. As for Fueger, he was at Peach Jam all of day one, while Mo Williams was at 3SSB for the majority of Thursday before making his way over to North Augusta. Pope then joined Williams on Friday while Fueger was in Rock Hill, followed by the head coach starting his Saturday at Peach Jam before making the short trip over to 3SSB for the rest of the day. Williams stuck around the Riverview Park Activities Center through the 16U and 17U championships on Sunday. Of the targets we saw the Kentucky staff watching at Peach Jam: Adan Diggs (No. 2 overall), Beckham Black (No. 3 overall), DeMarcus Henry (No. 4 overall), Lewis Uvwo (No. 8 overall), Cayden Daughtry (No. 9 overall), Paul Osaruyi (No. 10 overall), NaVorro Bowman Jr. (No. 16 overall), Ryan Hampton (No. 18 overall), Asa Montgomery (No. 30 overall), Chase Lumpkin (No. 31 overall), Jaxson Davis (No. 47 overall), Erick Dampier Jr. (2028, No. 5 overall), Mason Collins (2028, No. 8 overall), Dylan Betts (2028, No. 13 overall), Benji Berrouet (2028, No. 14 overall), Liam Mitakaro (2028, No. 27 overall), Chris Paul II (2028, unranked), JJ Crawford (2029). We’re certainly missing a few — there is a lot of bouncing back and forth between courts in a four-day stretch — but you get the idea: the Cats are leaving no stone unturned during the evaluation process. — Jack Pilgrim Ryan Hampton started hot, but cooled off late Future Kentucky guard Ryan Hampton had arguably his most efficient week of the summer at the best time. His run at Peach Jam started about as well as any Wildcat fan could have asked for. Through his first five games last week, he scored at least 15 points in all of them. He was shooting the ball well, attacking the rim, doing a great job on the glass, and playing sound defense. Here are the stat lines from those games: July 14 (78-74 W): 17 pts, 5 rebs, 2 stls | 6-10 FG, 2-5 3PT, 3-4 FT July 15 (79-63 L): 21 pts, 8 rebs, 2 asts | 5-11 FG, 4-9 3PT, 7-7 FT July 16 (58-51 W): 15 pts, 6 rebs | 6-16 FG, 2-5 3PT, 1-1 FT July 17 (75-63 W): 17 pts, 5 rebs | 7-15 FT, 1-3 3PT, 2-2 FT July 17 (87-79 W): 19 pts, 5 rebs | 5-9 FG, 1-4 3PT, 8-10 FT His Nightrydas team went 4-1 during that stretch. Despite having to play two games on July 17, he performed well in both. The three-point shooting stood out. Tough shots were falling regularly. But once the Peach Jam Tournament began, Hampton struggled in a Saturday doubleheader. Offense wasn’t coming as easily to him once elimination time came. July 18 (55-54 W): 6 pts, 5 rebs, 2 asts | 2-11 FG, 0-3 3PT, 2-2 FT July 18 (62-48 L): 4 pts, 4 rebs | 2-6 FG, 0-0 3PT, 0-0 FT That four-point outing against Drive Nation in the semifinal was especially rough. It was a blowout from the start and never got close. Hampton struggled to just stay on the floor. I’ll admit that playing next to a ball-dominant guy in Gabe Nesmith didn’t exactly help him stay in the game, but that excuse can only go so far. The same tough shots that Hampton was hitting throughout the week didn’t carry over into the weekend. It happens. All that being said, Hampton’s overall Peach Jam run was solid. He finished with averages of 14.1 points and 5.4 rebounds on shooting splits of 42.3/34.5/88.5. Nightrydas was one of the final four teams standing, Hampton serving as a big piece to the puzzle. He looked the part of his top 20 national ranking. It was just a disappointing end for the UK commit. — Zack Geoghegan Cayden Daughtry vs. Beckham Black lived up to the hype The debate for No. 1 in the class wasn’t easy going into Peach Jam, with arguments made for CJ Rosser, Adan Diggs, Beckham Black and DeMarcus Henry. The debate for No. 1 point guard in the class was even tougher, with Black joined by Nasir Anderson, Reese Alston and Cayden Daughtry all inside the top 10 at the position. Daughtry changed all of the narratives with one single eight-game run in North Augusta. The 6-0, 160-pound point guard already averaged 25.6 PPG, 6.0 APG, 5.2 RPG and 1.8 SPG on 55/34/90 shooting splits in 14 regular season games. Then he followed it up with averages of 32.3 PPG, 6.1 APG, 4.9 RPG and 2.9 SPG on 59/49/91 splits at Peach Jam, leading the Florida Rebels to a championship. In terms of production and efficiency, Daughtry’s run will go down as one of the best in EYBL history — and maybe all of grassroots basketball. Black was trending as the surefire No. 1 guy in 2027 — and deserved, with 21.7 PPG, 5.4 APG, 4.0 RPG and 1.7 SPG averages on 46/35/82 splits across the entire EYBL season — but does Daughtry belong in the conversation? He plays bigger than his size, trending as the next Trae Young or Jalen Brunson, potentially. It’s easier to bet on Black as the better pro, thanks to his physical tools, elite shot-making and two-way ability, but for college? Daughtry will be must-see TV wherever he lands. — Jack Pilgrim The kids love them some Mo Williams Ever since taking on an assistant coaching role at Kentucky, Mo Williams hasn’t stopped popping up in recruiting conversations. When Ryan Hampton committed to the Wildcats, his father Rod penned Williams as “The Closer”. It’s a nickname that’s stuck. Williams spent most of his week in North Augusta scouting the best players the Nike EYBL circuit has to offer. Of the roughly two dozen high school recruits we talked with at Peach Jam, a common theme emerged among 90 percent of them — Williams is the one in their ear the most. It’s easy to see why, too. Williams has an impressive resume. He was a McDonald’s All-American and one of the best high school point guards in his class. He succeeded at the college level and then did the same in the NBA, making an All-Star Game appearance in 2009 while playing next to LeBron James. He was on the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Finals-winning team in 2016. Once he dipped into coaching, Williams became even more well-known on the grassroots scene. He was a head coach at Jackson State for five years. At 43 years old with a recent high school graduate (current UK freshman Mason Williams) of his own, Williams knows exactly how to relate to high school kids while also making it clear his intentions as a college coach. “He’s really real with you,” 2028 four-star forward Benjamin “Benji” Berrouet told KSR. “He’s like a father figure to me. He talks like a dad and he treats you nice, explains what you did wrong during the game so you can do better next game.” “He did everything I want to do,” 2027 four-star wing Moussa Kamissoko said of Williams. Mark Pope brought in Williams to help develop players and coach talent, but his skills as a recruiter have quickly become his best trait as an assistant early into his Kentucky tenure. — Zack Geoghegan Jamal Crawford goes on-record about Kentucky Mark Pope and Jamal Crawford are longtime friends, thanks to their Washington ties and NBA history. That led to extensive talks between the two parties about the three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year potentially coming to Lexington as an assistant coach at Kentucky. It started as a Tyran Stokes-focused pursuit — at least in the eyes of Big Blue Nation — before Crawford himself confirmed with KSR the dream remained alive long after the No. 1 overall recruit committed to Kansas. The idea would be to pair him with Mo Williams and form a nasty one-two punch on the trail, using pro experience to bring in pro talent together. There were whispers as spring turned to summer, though, that the timing with Crawford was unlikely to work out due to his broadcasting contract with NBC and prior high school and AAU coaching obligations, as he preferred to coach his son, 2029 five-star guard JJ Crawford. Pope confirmed as much in his KSR interview a few weeks back. In his first on-record interview about Kentucky’s pursuit and his interest in a move to college coaching, Crawford officially shut down the noise, at least for the 2026-27 season. “If this were a different time, there’s no doubt. There’s zero doubt,” the former NBA star told KSR. “I have such respect for Coach Pope, Coach Mo (Williams), but just with everything I’m doing right now, and I’m under contract with NBC, and seeing that through, I think that takes precedent. … I can’t do it right now. I just can’t, not with everything I’m doing. But I have no doubt I will be a coach in the future. Zero.” For now, Kentucky’s vacant assistant coaching job remains open. Pope has been in deep talks with dozens of potential options that remain available, sources tell KSR, but the third-year coach is waiting for the dust to settle on some NCAA decisions and federal class action lawsuits that may impact schools’ recruiting pools before moving forward on a final pick. We just know it won’t be Jamal Crawford in this cycle. — Jack Pilgrim Lewis Uvwo is our new favorite player Lewis Uvwo (teammates with Hampton on Nightrydas) quickly became a KSR favorite throughout our week in Peach Jam. We already knew who he was coming into the week — an elite rim protector with soaring stock. The 6-foot-11 center went from being ranked outside the top 50 to consensus five-star status in recent updates. But now that we’ve seen him in person, we can confirm that there aren’t many high school recruits we’d rather see play in the blue and white. And not just because of his on-court production. But we’ll start with the basketball skills. Uvwo lived up to the hype as a shot blocker. He averaged six rejections per game at Peach Jam, including one 10-block outing. He also put up 11 points and 9.4 rebounds. Uvwo lives above the rim on both ends of the floor, throwing down put-back dunks every other time he touches the ball or altering any shot that comes in his vicinity. For every block he records, he alters another. His first jump is impressive and he has a nice feel around the rim. He’s not a bad free-throw shooter (75 percent at Peach Jam) but isn’t going to do much of his work outside of the paint. Regardless, there’s a reason he’s considered a top 10 talent. Keep in mind he’s only been playing basketball for three years. And then there’s the personality. Uvwo is high-energy and always smiling, encouraging his teammates any chance he gets. He doesn’t let a bad play impact the next. His interviews are equally impressive. He’s just a dude who loves everything about playing basketball.