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KSR's top takeaways from day one at the Nike EYBL Live Period

Jack PIlgrimby: Jack Pilgrim05/16/26

KSR is walking in Memphis, walking with our feet ten feet off of Beale — actually more like the Memphis Sports & Events Center for Nike EYBL Session II. It’s the first live period of the spring, an opportunity for thousands of coaches to gather under one roof and check out the nation’s top prospects in the upcoming classes.

Mark Pope is in attendance, as are Cody Fueger and new assistant coach Mo Williams. What do you need to know about Kentucky’s efforts on the trail to open this crucial cycle? Jack Pilgrim and Jacob Polacheck have you covered from The Bluff City.

Mo Williams is comfortable in Kentucky blue

In his first public recruiting event since taking the Kentucky job, the former Jackson State head coach was decked out in a light grey sweatsuit with UK logos on his hat, top and bottom with blue Nike Dunks. He made his rounds with confidence, introducing himself not as NBA All-Star or world champion Mo Williams, but instead as part of the winningest tradition in the history of college basketball. It’s clear he’s well-respected in the basketball world for the 14 years he spent in the league and the additional six he added as a head coach, teaching the next generation of young talent.

For a first impression, Williams looked the part, making his way from court to court with Pope — but also on his own, sure of himself and his ability to evaluate and reel in Kentucky talent.

KSR

Jack Pilgrim

The Portal Has Pushed Back All High School Recruiting

This year, the portal was pushed back to the end of the NCAA Tournament. As a result of the transfer portal opening on April 7, high school recruiting has been delayed significantly.

Kentucky entered Friday with only 10 offers, adding another one with top 10 forward Demarcus Henry on Friday. Even among the players offered, the recruiting process is moving slowly. There have been some unofficial visits and in-home trips, but things are expected to ramp up in the coming months.

While teams look to fill out the rest of their 2026-27 rosters, 2027 high school recruiting has been put on the back burner. It also doesn’t help that the reputation of the 2027 high school class is not very strong. All of it resulted in an opening live period day that saw coaches looking to identify top targets, trying to find out who to prioritize and go all-in on.

Jacob Polacheck

Cayden Daughtry and Beckham Black were the best guards in the gym

To start the event, I was convinced no one would impress me more than AB Elite’s Beckham Black, ranked No. 6 in 2027 and No. 2 among point guards. He finished with 25 points on 8-12 shooting and 4-5 from three with five assists, four steals, two rebounds and a block in his team’s 85-78 victory. His shot-making was on a different planet, confidently firing away on every touch and finding the bottom of the net like there was no other path possible. When he wasn’t acting like the rim was eight-feet wide, the Duncanville native was finding his teammates on alley-oop lobs on inbounds passes and pinning opponents’ shots on the backboard in transition. Black passed the eye test with flying colors, getting to his spots with purpose and running the show like the top player in the country at his position.

Then exactly one game set later, Cayden Daughtry of the Florida Rebels went for 37 points on 15-23 shooting and 4-8 from three to go with five assists and zero turnovers in a 100-80 victory over Nightrydas. At 6-2, he’s undersized, but plays with heart and in total control without being sped up. He makes shots and simply contributes to winning, also deserving of consideration atop the list of the best at point guard next to Reese Alston and Black — the former showing off his stuff at Puma Pro16.

Fortunately for us, they’re all Kentucky targets.

“I’ve been working out my whole life, I’ve been playing since I was one year old. I just feel like that IQ and feel I have for the game is something I’ve had for a long time,” Daughtry said on the NBA YouTube broadcast. “Just coming in, I definitely work on stuff every day, try to get better every single day. Obviously, there’s something natural to it, but I always try to get one percent better every day.”

Jack Pilgrim

Uncertainty at the Top of 2027

The top of the 2027 class is a bit of a mystery box. There are certainly some very intriguing pieces like No. 1-ranked prospect C.J. Rosser, who Kentucky recently went fishing with, and No. 3-ranked prospect Marcus Spears Jr., who had Kentucky visit him at his school in the past month.

However, both Rosser and Spears are far from finished products, with their rankings more evident of their ceilings than their current production. The 2027 class has already seen some top prospects like Bruce Branch and Baba Oladotun make the move into 2026, leaving 2027 with high upside players that are yet to play their best basketball.

As of now, Rosser has the No. 1 spot in the Rivals Industry Ranking and the Rivals rankings, but it’s far from consensus. This isn’t 2024 with Cooper Flagg, 2025 with AJ Dybantsa, or 2026 with Tyran Stokes. The No. 1 spot is still up for grabs, and it could be a battle throughout the whole year.

Jacob Polacheck

Kentucky prioritizes JJ Crawford — son of Jamal

Mark Pope did not just abort mission on his pursuit of the Crawfords following Tyran Stokes’ commitment to Kansas, clearly. There was a line of thinking that if Kentucky could reel in Jamal Crawford as an assistant, the No. 1 recruit would follow. That did not happen, but when given the chance to watch anyone he wanted to begin the live period on Friday, Pope started the afternoon session watching the three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year coach his son, JJ, for the Seattle Rotary.

That son just so happens to also be the No. 1 recruit in 2029, playing up with 16Us and putting on a show, scoring 18 points to begin the day with Pope and Williams sitting courtside. He finished shooting 7-10 from the field and 2-3 from three to go with two rebounds and two assists in the 75-58 blowout win.

It says something that, in an era where high school recruiting has been put on the back burner with the portal and international routes, Pope was sitting there with his new assistant watching a 2029 talent on the very first day of the very first live period.

It didn’t help land Stokes, but maybe the late push for Jamal Crawford set the Wildcats up nicely with his top-ranked son a few years down the road?

Jack Pilgrim

Kentucky Had Some Choices to Make on Friday

Due to the Nike EYBL scheduling, Kentucky had some choices to make on Friday. Some of the Cats’ top prospects were playing on different courts at the same time, which gave KSR some evidence of priorities. It’s early, but we’ll take what we can get.

During the late afternoon games, there were three courts with Kentucky targets. One of them was Cayden Daughtry, who was being watched by assistant coach Cody Fueger. On another court was five-star guard Ryan Hampton, whom the staff spent some time watching. However, the focus was mainly on a court featuring 2027 four-star guard Chase Lumpkin and 2027 five-star center Paul Osaruyi. Both Mark Pope and Mo Williams were watching Lumpkin and Osaruyi, showing a focus on two of UK’s most recent offers.

That’s not to say the staff showed all its cards. The staff utilized the second level to straddle two courts at once. That was utilized by Pope and Williams while 2027 five-star forward Marcus Spears Jr. was playing on one court, and 2027 five-stars C.J. Rosser and King Gibson were on the other court. KSR had enough trouble trying to watch all of Kentucky’s targets at once, but Kentucky’s staff got creative to see who they wanted.

Jacob Polacheck

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2026-05-20