After a gold-medal run with Team USA at the U-17 FIBA World Cup, Cayden Daughtry is back in the middle of the summer recruiting grind, and the Class of 2027 Florida Rebels point guard says his next move is coming soon.
Daughtry, a 6-foot guard at Cavalry Christian, landed in Las Vegas after helping Team USA go 7-0 in Turkey and beat opponents by nearly 50 points per game on average. Even with the attention that followed, he said the immediate job was still the one in front of him: a matchup with Vegas Elite at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Still, the bigger picture is getting clearer.
“I’ll cut it down by the end of Peach Jam, most likely,” said Daughtry, who named Louisville, Florida State, Michigan, Miami, Texas, Florida, Providence, Tennessee, Kentucky, and several others among the schools chasing him.
“Right now, the focus is on keeping the main thing the main thing. Then, we’ll likely come down to a Top-12, a Top-10, and have some conversations moving forward from there.”
Daughtry’s rise has been steady, and the production has matched the buzz. He turned heads at the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., around Christmas, when he showed the kind of game that can bend a defense: deep shooting range, crafty finishes, and a handle that lets him pick defenses apart.
This summer, he’s backed it up again. During EYBL Session II, Daughtry averaged 26.8 points and 4.5 assists, strengthening his case as a shot-maker with advanced vision and a feel for creating offense.
That stretch brought offers from LSU, UConn, Texas, and Kentucky.
With big guards increasingly valued, Daughtry stands out as something a little different. On Wednesday, he talked through some of the conversations he’s had with schools in the mix.
On Michigan: “Obviously they’ve been busy and they’ve had to get everyone back. It has been busy times over there with Coach (Dusty) May leaving (to take the Dallas Mavericks head coaching position).
I just had a call with (assistant coach) (Kyle) Church. I see a good future there, for sure.”
On Kentucky: “(Assistant Coach) Mo Williams has been telling me he loves my game. He’s always preaching to me how we play the same way he did and are similar players. He really just keeps emphasizing that Kentucky is the place for me.”
Florida: “Coach (Todd) Golden has been illustrating the same message: they want to get me to the league as quickly as possible. They envision me as a one and done type of guy. They’ve compared me to Walter Clayton.”
Texas: “They’ve been telling me they want a missing piece to help them get to the Final Four. Coach (Sean Miller), he’s come very close, but he’s never been to the Final Four.
He feels like I am a guy who can elevate the program even more. I can help them win, they can help do what they can to get me to the next level after that.”
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