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Five-star PG Cayden Daughtry narrows down his top schools, but two stick out
Cayden Daughtry. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Five-star PG Cayden Daughtry narrows down his top schools, but two stick out

Cayden Daughtry is one of the top high school point guard recruits in the country.

According to 247Sports, he's a five-star recruit, ranked as the No. 2 point guard in the 2027 class and the No. 3 player overall.

Daughtry is an elite talent, unquestionably, and his offer list reflects that.

Over 30 schools have offered him, and he could basically play at any big-time college that he'd like. 

The five-star from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, recently trimmed his list down to 14, though. Among this group are a few more-than-notable programs. 

It's a list that includes the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes. Those are two big-time college basketball schools for a big-time recruit.

At this juncture, every school on the list seems to be in the running. Some may have more of an advantage over others, though.

That includes the Hurricanes, who are making inroads with Daughtry on the recruiting trail thanks to associate head coach Erik Pastrana and, of course, head coach Jai Lucas.

Two Florida programs among those sticking out for five-star PG

"I love talking with Coach Pastrana," Daughtry recently told Rivals. Talking about how they play, how the ACC is, and how I would be a really good fit. Obviously, I see the fit, too. I really like the connection I have with the coach, Jai Lucas is really soft-spoken and really cool. They have some really cool guys over there.”

The Gators are also really interesting to Daughtry because of the way head coach Todd Golden used guard Walter Clayton Jr.
Daughtry believes himself to be more of a "small guard" like Clayton and he likes what the Gators can offer him.

"I’ve been seeing how they play with their guards last year; I saw how Boogie (Fland) played, and Xavian Lee. I just want to be able to see a little more with them, so I’m looking forward to watching them this season," he said. "I mean, Walter Clayton is a smaller guard, so just seeing a guy like him go to Florida and pretty much take over March Madness. Florida pretty much let him play, and they won. So, you know, it shows that it works."

Wherever he ends up, Daughtry will likely quickly find himself thinking about the NBA. Although he checks in at just 6-foot, 155 pounds, he wants to use this time in college basketball to prove that he has what it takes.

"I want to prove that small guards are back,” Daughtry has said. “That’s definitely one thing, but another thing is I want to prove is just how much of a dog I am and how much I want to win. I want to show these colleges and NBA scouts that I am here to stay, and I’m not going to flare off, that I’m going to keep getting better every single day.”

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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