just got back from Peach Jam

Bluedog1

Senior
Jan 4, 2012
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Saw about 15 games in two and a half days. LOVE 16 year old Cayden Daughtry( winner of 17u division Florida rebels). About 6-1 165 with more wiggle than most guards, great burst of speed, can shoot the 3 can drive and dish, hard to keep out of the lane, defends well and hits 90% from free throws. I only saw Pope at a couple games ( he may have flown up to Adidas) . He needs more weight but is strong for his size. Peach jam officials allow hard first point of contact without calling foul. These are NCAA refs and the players are allowed to play. Saw Becham Black one game. He is also a very very nice player. Big guard Doonie Johnson going to Gonzaga was VERY impressive. about 6-6 , gets to the rim with ease and can finish against length, can shoot it and can pass well. He plays on Team Herro with the Knueppel kid thats going to Duke. He is long, about 6-10 can really shoot it, hit 9 threes one game but I didnt see him rip through and finish through contact one time. He did hit a few mid range jump shots. Looks like a stereotypical Duke player , but def a nice piece to add with a few athletes around him. Different game than his brother though.

UK bound Ryan Hampton struggled mightily. First game I saw he went 2-11. second game he had four point and 4 turnovers. The positives, is hes long and runs the floor well. he has a nice looking shot from deep, it just didnt go. His team is VERY selfish. The kid that is going to Vandy (#1) is a huge ball hog and looked everyone off the whole time and went one on four. I HATED his game, though he is very athletic and can score. Ryan`s team has three top 20 recruits, but they play so selfishly you cannot tell. Ryan is not selfish; in fact I would say just the opposite. He did try to initiate scoring by driving several times. Each time he either missed floaters and contested layups or got the ball slapped away from him. I think he plays too upright. Dont get me wrong he is going to be fine. He just didnt play well, and his team did not help him play well. This class does not have near the talent that last years class did. Marcus Spear Jr reclassed and went to Texas so I didnt get to see him. There is a ton of length and athleticism but no bigs were really polished. The big on Hampton`s team and I dont recall his name, is an elite shot blocker and defender, and looked like the only big I saw that can make an immediate college impact first year.

Huge shout out to Drive nation who made it to the finals of 17u with 6 kids! They lost Marcus Spears Jr reclassed, and then they lost their second best player who reclassed and went to Texas tech to play QB. This team played like 8 games in two and a half days, so dont ever tell me a college kid gets tired. They busted their tails off. huge shout out to 5-10 cat quick guards Rylan Austin who makes them go. Kid is cat quick and reminds me of the little guard that played 20 years for Tenn a few years back ( or seemed like 20 years) you cant trap this kid and he can finish at the rim very creatively. Elijah Paez, I spoke with after the game, super nice kid. He had zero high major offers prior to the Peach jam, and he told me that Hurley at UConn talked to him prior to the championship game as well as several other high major teams. I dont know if hes a kid that will ever start on a high major team, but with some work on his shot he is a very good piece to a great team. He plays with a ton of heart , rebounds great for his size in traffic, is about 6-5 with a wide frame to pack on some weight and muscle. I loved his game, and I think we should offer him. He will be a 3-4 year kid that will factor in playing time in year two. He can pass and he can guard. again not a kid that will turn heads initially but just can flat play!!

hope you all enjoyed...
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
46,872
85,653
113
Saw about 15 games in two and a half days. LOVE 16 year old Cayden Daughtry( winner of 17u division Florida rebels). About 6-1 165 with more wiggle than most guards, great burst of speed, can shoot the 3 can drive and dish, hard to keep out of the lane, defends well and hits 90% from free throws. I only saw Pope at a couple games ( he may have flown up to Adidas) . He needs more weight but is strong for his size. Peach jam officials allow hard first point of contact without calling foul. These are NCAA refs and the players are allowed to play. Saw Becham Black one game. He is also a very very nice player. Big guard Doonie Johnson going to Gonzaga was VERY impressive. about 6-6 , gets to the rim with ease and can finish against length, can shoot it and can pass well. He plays on Team Herro with the Knueppel kid thats going to Duke. He is long, about 6-10 can really shoot it, hit 9 threes one game but I didnt see him rip through and finish through contact one time. He did hit a few mid range jump shots. Looks like a stereotypical Duke player , but def a nice piece to add with a few athletes around him. Different game than his brother though.

UK bound Ryan Hampton struggled mightily. First game I saw he went 2-11. second game he had four point and 4 turnovers. The positives, is hes long and runs the floor well. he has a nice looking shot from deep, it just didnt go. His team is VERY selfish. The kid that is going to Vandy (#1) is a huge ball hog and looked everyone off the whole time and went one on four. I HATED his game, though he is very athletic and can score. Ryan`s team has three top 20 recruits, but they play so selfishly you cannot tell. Ryan is not selfish; in fact I would say just the opposite. He did try to initiate scoring by driving several times. Each time he either missed floaters and contested layups or got the ball slapped away from him. I think he plays too upright. Dont get me wrong he is going to be fine. He just didnt play well, and his team did not help him play well. This class does not have near the talent that last years class did. Marcus Spear Jr reclassed and went to Texas so I didnt get to see him. There is a ton of length and athleticism but no bigs were really polished. The big on Hampton`s team and I dont recall his name, is an elite shot blocker and defender, and looked like the only big I saw that can make an immediate college impact first year.

Huge shout out to Drive nation who made it to the finals of 17u with 6 kids! They lost Marcus Spears Jr reclassed, and then they lost their second best player who reclassed and went to Texas tech to play QB. This team played like 8 games in two and a half days, so dont ever tell me a college kid gets tired. They busted their tails off. huge shout out to 5-10 cat quick guards Rylan Austin who makes them go. Kid is cat quick and reminds me of the little guard that played 20 years for Tenn a few years back ( or seemed like 20 years) you cant trap this kid and he can finish at the rim very creatively. Elijah Paez, I spoke with after the game, super nice kid. He had zero high major offers prior to the Peach jam, and he told me that Hurley at UConn talked to him prior to the championship game as well as several other high major teams. I dont know if hes a kid that will ever start on a high major team, but with some work on his shot he is a very good piece to a great team. He plays with a ton of heart , rebounds great for his size in traffic, is about 6-5 with a wide frame to pack on some weight and muscle. I loved his game, and I think we should offer him. He will be a 3-4 year kid that will factor in playing time in year two. He can pass and he can guard. again not a kid that will turn heads initially but just can flat play!!

hope you all enjoyed...
Thank you for the info, I am slightly concerned about Hampton and his stock dropping kinda rapidly and then having a tourney like this. As you said it could be due to his team. I hope he didn’t peak early and that his shooting limitations aren’t what hold him back from being a good college player.
 

NociHTTP

Heisman
Mar 8, 2023
12,889
20,174
113
Lol, fly-by Ryan Hampton backhand.

I See You Reaction GIF by Pantaya
 
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TFCat11

Heisman
Mar 25, 2019
6,275
11,586
108
Coaches have to be extra careful when recruiting and signing these HS players in the NIL era…

One moment, you’re signing the #6 rated 5 star player in their class for top 10 player NIL $$$, the next moment, you’ve got an overpaid 20-30’s something 4 star, who looks to be the next overrated player, that you’re better off recruiting over in hopes they decommit to free up the overpayment.

I’m not suggesting Hampton shouldn’t be an UK Wildcat, I’m happy he is, I’m just pointing out potentially unfortunate possible situations with these HS players early in the recruiting process.
 
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ScWildcat3

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Sep 27, 2005
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Well, this part is discouraging to hear. Especially since I’ve heard his stock had already been falling even before this tourney. I hope he doesn’t turn out to be one of those recruits who just happens to have been way overrated when we recruited him.
The team he was on did him zero justice. He played well with what he was tasked to do. They basically had him standing on the 3pt line while the bigs refuse to kick out and the 2 guards went 1 on 1. He still hustled and rebounded well which showed a lot to me. But he was wide open a ton and the bigs and 2 guards just didn’t pass at all. Very poorly coached team.
 

Padsfs07

All-Conference
Jan 19, 2013
3,920
3,753
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Well, this part is discouraging to hear. Especially since I’ve heard his stock had already been falling even before this tourney. I hope he doesn’t turn out to be one of those recruits who just happens to have been way overrated when we recruited him.

Half the class is reclassifying into 2026 so maybe he will move up on attrition alone!
 
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Bluedog1

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Jan 4, 2012
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The team he was on did him zero justice. He played well with what he was tasked to do. They basically had him standing on the 3pt line while the bigs refuse to kick out and the 2 guards went 1 on 1. He still hustled and rebounded well which showed a lot to me. But he was wide open a ton and the bigs and 2 guards just didn’t pass at all. Very poorly coached team.
You are dead on correct. Apparently he had a very good four or five games prior. I only caught his last two. The kid going to Vandy is as bad a team mate as you can have. He looks everyone off. Ryan is a high major recruit. I dont want to disparage him at all. He just looked very bad the two games I saw him play. Everyone has off games at times. He doesnt to me look like a kid that can come in first year and start and be a strong contributor.
 
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ScWildcat3

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Sep 27, 2005
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You are dead on correct. Apparently he had a very good four or five games prior. I only caught his last two. The kid going to Vandy is as bad a team mate as you can have. He looks everyone off. Ryan is a high major recruit. I dont want to disparage him at all. He just looked very bad the two games I saw him play. Everyone has off games at times. He doesnt to me look like a kid that can come in first year and start and be a strong contributor.
He def needs some refining. He does have a knack for scoring which is hard to teach. Also has good length. From people I talked to at peach jam and have heard from other aau ppl reclassing is still a possibility. Would be great for him personally imo. He can come in and develop and take over next year.
 

BookofMormon

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Mar 27, 2026
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Coaches have to be extra careful when recruiting and signing these HS players in the NIL era…

One moment, you’re signing the #6 rated 5 star player in their class for top 10 player NIL $$$, the next moment, you’ve got an overpaid 20-30’s something 4 star, who looks to be the next overrated player, that you’re better off recruiting over in hopes they decommit to free up the overpayment.

I’m not suggesting Hampton shouldn’t be an UK Wildcat, I’m happy he is, I’m just pointing out potentially unfortunate possible situations with these HS players early in the recruiting process.
They really do. Or they can be low risk stashes.

To top if off, this is considered an incredibly weak class, worst in 25 years or so. The reality is that most of these kids will not be huge impacts during their freshman year, either bench or role. Many say Beckham Black might not even be in the top ten of the 25 class.

The way to go with 5/5 is going to be euros and transfers. The game is going to get older pretty quick, and 18 years old that have their sites set on the NBA, can only do so much in one year unless they are special.

It feels like the right approach is going after the 25-40 kids with high upside, let them learn off the bench in year one. I'm going to be particularly interested in how Scheyer manages his roster this year, as he could have 3 five stars on the bench. It's amazing how kids want to go to Duke under any conditions, when they could start at most schools.
 
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Son_Of_Saul

Hall of Famer
Dec 7, 2007
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Lol, fly-by Ryan Hampton backhand.

I See You Reaction GIF by Pantaya
It's reality. He fell from 6th in the nation to 21st for a reason, and not because of some silly anti-UK bias conspiracy.

He's a decent player, but he's struggled mightily.

There's a reason that Duke , UConn and most of the other big dogs never offered him.

Pope had the entire UK team go watch him, a move than Pitino used on Ron Mercer back in the spring of 1995. Makes one wonder why that type of technique is needed for a player who is already committed.
 
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