KSR’s top takeaways from Friday at Peach Jam

Day three at Peach Jam is in the books for the KSR crew. And it was a busy one. Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope made his Peach Jam debut on Friday, sitting courtside to watch several of the Wildcats’ favorite high school players throughout the afternoon. Assistant coach Mo Williams joined Pope for the day, shifting between sitting with his boss and doing some solo scouting on his own. They were dividing and conquering. But what/who exactly were they looking at? That’s what we’re here to help you out with. Dive in below to hear about our top takeaways from another busy day at the Riverview Park Activities Center in North Augusta, SC. We’ll be back in the gym bright and early Saturday morning. Mark Pope watches his future Wildcat Mark Pope showed up to North Augusta on Friday for his first taste of some Peach Jam action. The Kentucky head coach sat down to watch plenty of the Wildcats’ top high school targets, including the likes of Lewis Uvwo, Cayden Daughtry, DeMarcus Henry, Adan Diggs, NaVorro Bowman Jr., Paul Osaruyi, and Benji Berrouet (2028). He also made sure to be there for his future shooting guard. Pope was courtside to watch Kentucky commit Ryan Hampton, who continues to put up big numbers this week, take the floor for Nightrydas. Hampton went for 19 points (5-9 FG; 8-10 FT) and five rebounds in front of Pope. Nightrydas, which made it to the quarterfinals on Saturday, came out with an 87-79 win over Jet Academy. Hampton has been nothing if not consistent this week. He’s yet to score under 15 points in any of his five games. He ranks 12th among all Peach Jam performers in scoring at 17.8 points per game to go along with his 5.8 boards. But the best part? His efficiency. 47.5 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from deep, and 87.5 percent from the free-throw line is exactly what the BBN wants to see from Hampton on the biggest stage. — Zack Geoghegan Interesting viewing decisions for Pope, Kentucky Pope opened the live period in Bryan, Texas watching five-star point guard Reese Alston for the Puma PRO16 championships alongside assistant coach Mikhail McLean. Cody Fueger and Mo Williams traded spots at Peach Jam and 3SSB to begin the event, where the bulk of Kentucky’s top targets for 2027, 2028 and 2029 are hooping. Logistics are at play, obviously — knock out one major priority on the first day, then spend the rest of the weekend dividing and conquering — but it was certainly a statement when it comes to Alston. The Wildcats made a few other statements on Friday, namely getting multiple sets of eyes and ears on ’27 five-star Paul Osaruyi and ’28 four-star Benji Berrouet — both Pope and Williams there for both. — Jack Pilgrim Adan Diggs and DeMarcus Henry are the real deal It certainly isn’t groundbreaking news that a consensus Top 5 prospect is really good, but Adan Diggs is really good. John Calipari (Arkansas), Steve Forbes (Wake Forest), Danny Hurley (UConn), Pat Kelsey (Louisville), Tommy Lloyd (Arizona), Michael Malone (North Carolina), & Ben McCollum (Iowa) were among the long list of head coaches that watched Vegas Elite 17U on Friday morning to see both Diggs and fellow top prospect DeMarcus Henry. Diggs was ranked as the top Class of 2028 prospect in the country prior to reclassifying, and it is easy to see why. He checks all of the boxes in terms of athletic and physical tools, but is really smooth as a shooter and ball-handler as well. The 6’4” guard scored 29 points to go with 11 rebounds and five assists while playing excellent defense as well. Mark Pope was courtside for his second game of the day when Diggs poured in 27 points. He is absolutely one of the best players in the country (more on that in a bit). Henry didn’t put up the counting stats that Diggs did on Friday, but his talent was equally apparent. One of the top stock-risers from the spring, Henry is now also considered a consensus Top 5 prospect. The 6’7” lefty wing is an incredibly fluid athlete who is very comfortable with the ball in his hands. He displayed some secondary playmaking ability that was very impressive. There might not be a player in the class with a higher true ceiling. — Brandon Ramsey Sorry, no Cayden Daughtry drop-off After a 43-point performance on Thursday coming off 32- and 34-point outings on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, there was a thought Friday may be the day tired legs get the best of Cayden Daughtry and he comes back down to earth following his all-time run to begin Peach Jam. That was not the case — because Daughtry is a special talent who continues to plead his case for No. 1 in the class, no matter his size or physical limitations. With two games on the schedule on Friday, he went for 30 points on 9-17 shooting and 4-6 from three in game one, followed by 35 points on 13-22 overall in game two. He’s now averaging 34.8 PPG on 59/46/92 shooting splits in what many are calling one of the most brilliant stretches in the history of AAU basketball. Pope was there for both games — along with just about everyone else in the college basketball world. There was also a line wrapped around the building for fans looking to get a glimpse at the electric scoring guard, currently ranked No. 18 overall by Rivals (but not for long). The Cayden Daughtry Effect…Mike Malone (UNC), Mike Boynton (Michigan), Ben McCollum (Iowa), Dan Hurley (UConn), Jai Lucas (Miami FL), Grant McCastland (Texas Tech), Pat Kelsey (Louisville), Mark Pope (Kentucky), Jake Diebler (Ohio State) are among the head coaches in… pic.twitter.com/Sf4ZhqAXDw— Olly Reed Sports LLC (@OllyReedSports) July 18, 2026 The world needs a Daughtry vs. Beckham Black battle for the Peach Jam crown. Give it to us, please. — Jack Pilgrim The championship bracket is officially set The top eight Peach Jam teams have advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals. A handful of Kentucky targets, including Hampton (Nightrydas), will be fighting for a championship. Here are the other names in the winner’s bracket that the Big Blue Nation needs to know: Cayden Daughtry (Florida Rebels), Lewis Uvwo (Nightrydas), and Beckham Black (AB Elite). Of the four quarterfinal matchups, one could argue Nightyrdas vs. AB Elite is the one to watch. Hampton and Lewis going up against Black will be great basketball viewing for Kentucky fans. They’ll go head-to-head at 1:30 p.m. ET tomorrow, with the winner moving on to the semifinals later in the night at 7:30 p.m. ET. The championship game has been set for Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET. The fun is only just beginning. Below is the complete bracket. If you aren’t in North Augusta, you can still watch the game through a (FREE!) livestream via Nike’s website. — Zack Geoghegan Brandon Ramsey’s Post-Peach Jam Top 5 Having had the chance to see CJ Rosser in person several times at EYBL Session III in Kansas City, I would still have him as my top prospect in the Class of 2027. However, since he didn’t participate in Peach Jam, we will create this Top 5 without him. Here is how I would rank the Top 5 prospects in the Class of 2027 from North Augusta. Beckham Black: Admittedly, the separator between him and Daughtry is size. Black is a few inches taller while possessing a lot of the same skills and producing at a consistently high level as well. He is a guy who seems to roll out of bed giving you 20/5/5, along with being a plus defender. Adan Diggs: Diggs is a prospect with an NBA-ready body. The 6’4” guard is an excellent athlete, has the physical strength to play through contact, and is such a smooth jump shooter. He has the total package offensively while also showing some very impressive defensive traits. The two-way ability gives him the edge here. Cayden Daughtry: This is where the conversation gets more interesting. In my opinion, Rosser/Black/Diggs are on a tier by themselves as the top three. However, I just can’t go any further without giving the nod to Daughtry. When you produce at such an insanely high level so consistently and do so with elite efficiency, your size starts to matter less and less. The way it leads to winning makes it hard to list any other names before Daughtry. DeMarcus Henry: As I said earlier, there might not be a prospect in the Class of 2027 with a higher ceiling than Henry. The 6’7” lefty wing has legitimate playmaking ability as a ball handler and passer. It doesn’t take much projection to consider him one of the top talents in the country. Moussa Kamissoko: This one may be going out on a bit of a limb, but again, the upside is tremendous. Kamissoko can be a game-wrecker defensively and is a very good rebounder. He also has more ball skill than you would expect from a super-athletic 6’8” wing. One of my personal favorite prospects in the country. — Brandon Ramsey