BY ZACH SMART
After blitzing foes with staggering, unprecedented numbers throughout Peach Jam, Cayden Daughtry continued to stake his claim as the No.1 player in the country.
The Class of 2027 guard was able to prolong his hyper-efficient scoring barrage, as he turned in a game-best 33 points to catapult the Florida Rebels to a 71-60 victory over Drive Nation on Sunday.
Daughtry amassed 258 total points at Peach Jam. With the sublime showing on arguably the biggest stage of the summer, Daughtry is now ranked as the No. 3 player in 247Sports’ 2027 Recruiting Rankings.
Elusive and appearing unguardable at times Daughtry shot 9-for-16 from the field. He fired in 3-for-5 from 3-point range and knocked back a scalding 12-for-13 from the free throw line.
Prior to this, Daughtry scored 32 points to go with seven assists and six boards, catapulting the Rebels to a resounding 84-76 victory over Team Herro during the semifinal.
The diminutive 5-foot-11, 155-pound guard has shot 63 percent from the floor, 49 percent from beyond the confines of the arc, and 92 percent from the free throw line throughout the event.
Drive Nation’s David Baliraine corralled his sixth offensive board of the afternoon and turned in a traditional 3-point play with 2:26 remaining in the fourth quarter of the title game, cutting his undersized team’s deficit to 64-57.
After Oneal Delancy snared an in-traffic rebound on a possession that culminated with Daughtry splitting pair of free throws, Drive Nation’s Elijah Paez converted 1-of-2 at the line.
The Rebels then instigated a live ball turnover on Drive Nation’s ensuing possession.
MJ Curry, who had a strong baseline drive-and-finish moments earlier, stuck both free throws.
The indefatigable Daughtry, who has had minimal rest since flying from Istanbul, Turkey with Team USA to Las Vegas for EYBL Session 4, knocked down a pair of free throws to hike the lead back up to 11, 69-58.
Daughtry’s supporting cast deserves a good deal of credit.
The furious paced, high scoring Rebels closed out the third quarter on a 13-4 spurt.
Nijuan Harris splashed a 3 off a hot read from Delancy to give Florida a 42-37 lead with 2:17 remaining.
Drive Nation answered with a deep corner jumper from Avery Moses.
On the ensuing possession, Curry got into the open court for a pulsating one-handed dunk which sent the jam-packed gym into a frenzy.
The Rebels capped the frenetic third quarter power surge as Delancy, who played despite a balky ankle, finished a hard surge to the rim for a 50-41 edge.
Paez On The Map: Running parallel with the Cinderella-esque emergence of Drive Nation–which quickly bid adieu to its most acclaimed recruit when Marcus Spears Jr. re-classed up and committed to Texas at the 11th hour–was the convincing two-way play of Elijah Paez.
A creative offensive threat, Paez scored 20 points and grabbed five boards, helping propel Drive Nation to a Peach Jam title berth with a 63-51 semifinal win over the NY Rens.
The 6-foot-5 Class of 2027 wing, who entered the event as a relative unknown, has received offers from California, DePaul, Texas-Arlington, and several others in the past 48 hours.
Rapid National Rise Continues For Santos: Another guy who has fled obscurity this summer has been AB Elite’s Isaiah Santos.
A vertical athlete possessing college ready physicality, Santos has picked up offers from Auburn, Colorado, Butler, SMU, and various others during a breakthrough summer. A high academic recruit, Santos is slated for upcoming visits to Minnesota (July 23-24) and Texas Tech (July 24-25) after he wraps up his current visit to Vanderbilt.
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