NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- Peach Jam is designed to drain. The heat in one gym makes national championship-winning coaches spin on a heel and exit stage left. The blasting air conditioning in others has some decked with sweatsuits from head to toe (looking at you, Mark Pope). The games start one after the next with no end in sight. By the fourth day, the sacred corridors of the Riverview Park Activities Center are packed with gassed people. Heck, even the pop-up Chick-fil-A stand ran out of Diet Coke and water.
It's been this way for 30 years. A rite of passage to scale the pinnacle of grassroots basketball.
Which makes context all the more necessary to evaluate the next crop of hoopers. This is an exhausting event coming after a wearying summer where numerous top prospects have not been home in weeks, traversing the globe to play in front of evaluators in Kansas City, Nevada, Colorado, Virginia or even Türkiye for the fortunate players on Team USA.)
This version of Peach Jam was not in its supersized era. The big men in the Class of 2027 are underwhelming, at best. There were numerous games where the tallest player on the floor was 6-foot-6 or 6-7. That changes the calculus for the evaluation in a major way when there's not high-major size waiting at the rim.
So, who showed out? And what did we hear on the road?
Let's dive in.
Starting five from Peach Jam
These five players showed out at the 2026 Peach Jam.
PG Cayden Daughtry (No. 9 in 247Sports' Class of 2027): What else can you say at this point? Daughtry delivered the absolute goods in a historic Peach Jam showing. Daughtry's slick handle is probably my favorite part of his game right now, but the competitiveness and demeanor are close runner-ups. He's just wired the right way. Iowa has made it loud and clear how much it wants Daughtry. The point guard-coach pairing there with Daughtry and Ben McCollum would be an outstanding mind-meld, but it certainly feels like Daughtry's legendary Peach Jam showing will make this anything but easy.
G Beckham Black (No. 1 in 247Sports' Class of 2027): Daughtry is the most productive high school basketball player in the country right now, but Anthony Black's little brother, Beckham, did nothing to dissuade his case to be No. 1 in 2027. The 6-3, 180-pound guard is just good at basketball. He mixes force, power, craftsmanship and athleticism with sharp feel off the ball as a cutter. Black's poise as a playmaker was noticeable. He posted 32 assists to just 13 turnovers in six Peach Jam games, to go along with his cool 24 points a night. Visits to Texas and North Carolina are on the horizon with numerous big dawgs in the mix here, too.
C Lewis Uvwo (No. 6 in 247Sports' Class of 2027): Uvwo can change the game without doing literally anything offensively. The 6-11 big man averaged six (!) blocks over a seven-game sample size at Peach Jam, including numerous two-hand rejections that just defy gravity. His 10-point, nine-rebound, 10-block showing against Team Herro was one of the single best games of the tournament. Uvwo nearly single-handedly forced guards to do a U-turn when they drove into the paint out of fear. Uvwo is not expected to reclassify into 2026 because he picked up basketball so late.
The Nigerian product started playing basketball less than three years ago. While raw, Uvwo is getting better by the day as he learns the game. The big man market is very uninspiring in the Class of 2027, but Uvwo is a no-brainer. He'll have his pick of the litter on the recruiting front, ranging from blue bloods to all the highest bidders. He's also a delightful human who yelps with glee after swatting shots, plays the game with a massive smile at all times, isn't afraid to get dunked on and has a superb personality.
G JJ Crawford (Class of 2029): Jamal Crawford's son can really hoop. The sprouting 6-3 guard is regarded as one of the top prospects in the Class of 2029. He just turned 16 years old last month and it's not hard to see what's up next. In front of his dad's watchful eye, Crawford drained 13 triples in four games at Peach Jam. He's already got positional size, shooting and the bloodlines, to boot. Crawford is going to be a five-star prospect for 247Sports when the time comes to rank the 2029 class. This is only the beginning.
F Benji Berrouet (No. 22 in 247Sports' Class of 2028): Berrouet is a monster who seems poised for a major rise up the rankings in the not-so-distant future. The 6-8 forward averaged 17 points, 13 rebounds, 4.0 blocks and 1.1 assists while showing an ability to impact the game in a ton of different ways. Berrouet's motor is outstanding, and he's just always around the ball. The burly power forward is already a gem, and the spotlight is only going to grow.
How the commits will fit their teams
Vanderbilt's Gabe Nesmith (No. 33 in 247Sports' Class of 2026): When Nesmith is right, he is overwhelming. Following a rock-solid Peach Jam, the 6-5 wing reclassified and will suit up for Vanderbilt in 2026-27. He is the third-highest rated recruit in Vanderbilt history, and he played like that for stretches last week. It's a big addition at a real position of need for a 'Dores team that wants to compete for a Final Four. Nesmith has real positional size and shows off a pass-dribble-shoot skillset. He had a couple strong rack attacks that got the gym buzzing.
Obviously, shooting is part of the Nesmith Family Business, but shot selection could explain why Nesmith knocked down just 27% of his 3-pointers this spring on 118 attempts for the Nightrydas. While he showed flashes of being able to play on the ball, Nesmith should get easier shots playing next to the brilliant Tyler Tanner. Can he keep impacting the game positively with his defense, secondary playmaking, slashing and rebounding? Nesmith looks like a rotation guy for Vanderbilt in 2026-27, but I'd be surprised if he cracks the starting lineup right away.
Arkansas' Davion Thompson (No. 40 in 247Sports' Class of 2026): Thompson can put the ball in the bucket. He averaged 20.8 points and shot 43% from downtown on 8.0 attempts over a five-game sample size at Peach. This was fresh off a high school season where Thompson shot north of 40% from 3-point range on 5.7 attempts for Link Academy. The lefty 6-2 guard can make pull-up 3-pointers in his sleep with real range. Like Nesmith, Thompson reclassified to 2026, so he can join John Calipari's club right away.
Arkansas needed another guard after Meleek Thomas chose to stay in the 2026 NBA Draft, and there's a runway for Thompson to play very quickly as the backup point guard who can come in, make good decisions and knock down shots. I think he'll play 15ish minutes in Year 1 and then be a major piece of the puzzle in 2027-28.
Arkansas' Caleb Ourigou (No. 51 in 247Sports' Class of 2027): There is a ton of reclassification buzz with Ourigou to help shore up Arkansas' frontline. While he's not much of an offensive threat these days, Ourigou's combination of relentless offensive rebounding could help him get on the floor as quickly as next winter. He had multiple offensive rebounds in five of six games at Peach Jam. The 6-9 big man has a 7-3 wingspan and would buff up Arkansas' interior thump in a tangible way. He's not a Day One starter, but he can fight for rotational minutes.
Duke's Kager Knueppel (No. 24 in 247Sports' Class of 2027): Knueppel is all of 6-10 and can shoot the cover off the ball. That combination is a tremendous base to construct a real valuable role player. Kon Knueppel had way more offensive game, but Kager looks every bit the part of a multi-year contributor for Duke. His attention to detail defensively shined in person, and he earned tough assignments all week. When he gets hot, watch out. Knueppel drained seven treys in a half against Daughtry and the Florida Rebels.
Gonzaga's Dooney Johnson (No. 26 in 247Sports' Class of 2027): Gonzaga needs a point guard after Mario Saint-Supery's stunning exit to go back to Spain. Johnson told CBS Sports that he hasn't discussed reclassification yet with the Zags. Plus, there's a bit of pause around whether Johnson is actually a point guard. The 6-5 lead guard has terrific positional size and projects as a high-floor prospect because he can defend and rebound, but he didn't look like a point guard at Peach Jam.
He's a lot closer to a jumbo combo guard who can handle it for stretches, but I hesitate to believe he's someone you hand the keys to and let rock out. He finished with more turnovers than assists at Peach Jam, a consistent red flag in his portfolio this spring at the four prior EYBL sessions.
Kentucky's Ryan Hampton (No. 11 in 247Sports' Class of 2027): Hampton's overall numbers were just fine: 14.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 35% from 3-point range in seven games. But the eye test was a bit of a rollercoaster. The 6-6, 190-pound wing had halves where he was invisible for long stretches before turning it up for spurts. That's going to happen; basketball is weird like that. But Hampton may need a bit more seasoning before being expected to be a star at Kentucky.
Just getting more comfortable with his handle and refining his skill set will be paramount. Hampton is not a knockdown shooter yet, and the ball comes off his hand a little differently every time. He also left a lot of meat on the bone as a finisher, despite going up against undersized shot-blockers, and there's not much playmaking in his portfolio yet. Hampton has a chance to be a really good player (he's a five-star recruit for a reason), but staying in the Class of 2027 instead of reclassifying would be wise.
Iowa State's Jack Kohnen (No. 60 in 247Sports' Class of 2027): There's not a ton of fluff with Kohnen's game. What you see is what you get. The 6-6, 215-pound wing is sturdy, tough, smart and reliable. His best game came when he dropped 35 points against the PSA Cardinals, drilling five triples and dislodging defenders with crunching backdowns. Kohnen is just so steady. He'll be a real piece for Iowa State down the road.
