Peach Jam 2023 is here. What to know about every Kentucky basketball recruit playing.

The final event of the 2023 Nike EYBL season has arrived, and plenty of Kentucky men’s basketball recruits are taking center stage.

Following four sessions on the Nike EYBL circuit this spring in Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas and Memphis, the best teams on the EYBL circuit are now competing at the prestigious season-ending Peach Jam event, which was to run from Monday through Sunday at the Riverview Park Activities Center in North Augusta, South Carolina.

There is a strong representation at this year’s Peach Jam from class of 2024 and class of 2025 players that UK is actively recruiting.

After filtering out players who have already committed to other college programs or are no longer considering Kentucky, there are 11 players with a UK scholarship offer who could play at Peach Jam.

The Herald-Leader is in attendance to watch these players in action, evaluate their skills and gather the latest intel on each of their recruitments.

As the Peach Jam gets underway, here’s what you need to know about the players at the event that Kentucky is pursuing.

Kentucky picked up its first class of 2024 commitment last week with center Somto Cyril from the Overtime Elite league. He’s the only commitment UK has for either the 2024 or 2025 class.

Darius Acuff Jr.

Team: The Family.

Class: 2025.

Nike EYBL stats: 20.1 points per game; 35.9% three-point shooting, 82.4% free-throw shooting.

Analysis: Class of 2025 point guard Darius Acuff Jr. is playing up an age group on the EYBL circuit this year and has impressed as a high-scoring option out of the backcourt.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound point guard possesses a smooth-looking shot from deep and rarely hesitates when given the opportunity to shoot.

The Herald-Leader was on hand when Acuff scored 30 points on 8-for-16 three-point shooting in his final game of the third EYBL session in North Texas.

Acuff recently made his debut in the 247Sports and 247Sports Composite rankings: A five-star prospect according to both metrics, the 247Sports Composite has Acuff as the No. 18 player overall in the class of 2025 and the third-best point guard in the class.

Recruiting intel: Kentucky extended a scholarship offer to Acuff in late April, and Acuff already has plenty of high-profile scholarship offers to his name.

The likes of Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State and Indiana have already offered Acuff, who is from Detroit.

Additionally, in the last few days alone Acuff has reported scholarship offers from Houston, LSU, Missouri and St. John’s.

Cameron Boozer

Team: Nightrydas Elite (Nike E16).

Class: 2025.

Nike E16 stats: 24.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists per game.

Analysis: Recently reaffirmed by 247Sports as the top-ranked player in the 2025 class, Cameron Boozer has put up video game statistics while playing in the Nike E16 division this year.

Boozer (one of the sons of NBA veteran and college basketball national champion Carlos Boozer) shares the floor in both high school and travel basketball with his twin brother, Cayden, who we’ll get to in a second.

While it’s clear that Boozer — a 6-foot-9, 215-pound power forward — hasn’t been tested as much as he would have been playing up an age level on the Nike EYBL circuit, the results are still impressive.

Boozer leads the E16 division in rebounding and is second in scoring only to Cooper Flagg, the other consensus top prospect in the 2025 class.

One of the highlight moments from this year’s edition of Peach Jam will be a Wednesday morning meeting between Nightrydas Elite, featuring the Boozer twins, and Flagg’s Maine United team.

Recruiting intel: As one would expect with the top-ranked player in a recruiting class, there’s no shortage of schools in pursuit of Boozer.

The likes of Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky, Miami (Fla.), Michigan and North Carolina have all dished out offers so far.

The Boozer twins play prep basketball at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami and Carlos Boozer went to Duke, which figures to give those two ACC schools a leg up in the recruiting battle for one, if not both, players.

UK’s scholarship offer to Boozer arrived in May.

Cayden Boozer

Team: Nightrydas Elite (Nike E16).

Class: 2025.

Nike E16 stats: 12.2 points, 8.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds per game.

Analysis: While Cayden Boozer — the twin brother of Cameron — doesn’t occupy as lofty a recruiting ranking as his brother, he’s not that far off.

Boozer is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star prospect and the No. 20 overall player in the 2025 class.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound point guard also put up impressive stats against below-level competition in the Nike E16 division this year.

As opposed to Cameron, who scores more and does more work around the rim, Cayden is an elite ball distributor who totaled at least eight assists in 12 Nike E16 games this season.

Recruiting intel: The scholarship offer list for Cayden is essentially the same as it is for Cameron: Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky Miami (Fla.) and North Carolina are leading the way.

Both Boozer twins even reported their scholarship offers from Kentucky on the same day.

Again, one of the biggest factors in the recruitment of both players, especially from the perspective of a school like Kentucky, is how much effort and resources should go into recruiting the Boozer twins given their ties to Duke.

Boogie Fland

Team: PSA Cardinals.

Class: 2024.

Nike EYBL stats: 15 points, 2.8 assists, 1.7 steals per game.

Analysis: A longtime presence on Kentucky’s recruiting radar in the class of 2024, Boogie Fland is a confident and comfortable player with the charisma to shine at a top college program.

A 6-foot-3, 165-pound combo guard from just outside New York City, Fland is a consensus five-star recruit. According to the 247Sports Composite, Fland is the eighth-best player in the country in the 2024 recruiting class.

Already a gold medalist in the USA basketball system, Fland has an advanced dribble package and the ability to score from a variety of spots on the court. A true three-level scorer and playmaker, one of Fland’s strongest calling cards is the ability to excel either at the “one” or “two” spot, meaning that he is comfortable in both an on-ball and off-ball role.

Recruiting intel: The parade of colleges lining up to try and land Fland is lengthy, and includes the likes of Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and North Carolina, in addition to Kentucky.

The most recent recruiting action for Fland came last month when he took an official visit to Indiana. He has also taken visits to Michigan and North Carolina, according to 247Sports.

In early May, Fland told Rivals that he intended to visit UK at some point.

Jasper Johnson

Team: Team Thad.

Class: 2025.

Nike EYBL stats: 12.3 points per game; 39.7% three-point shooting.

Analysis: Like Acuff, Jasper Johnson is another class of 2025 guard who is playing up an age level on the Nike EYBL circuit this year.

Most UK fans may also associate Johnson as being the face of a new era of Kentucky high school boys’ basketball: He was a star for the last two seasons at Woodford County High School, including this past spring when he led the Yellow Jackets to not only the Boys’ Sweet 16 state basketball tournament for the first time since 1986, but to a semifinal appearance in it.

Johnson’s time as an in-state basketball star — at least as a high school player — appears to be over, though.

In June, Johnson announced he would be transferring to Link Academy, a top prep school in Missouri, to continue his high school basketball career. In just its second year of existence, Link won the 2023 GEICO Nationals championship in April.

A 6-4, 170-pound combo guard, Johnson has tremendous bounce and appears to effortlessly glide when he moves across the court. His basketball IQ also stands out as part of his ball distribution and defensive positioning.

He’s ranked as a five-star prospect in the 2025 class by the 247Sports Composite, and as the No. 16 overall player in that class by that metric.

Recruiting intel: Johnson’s recruitment has taken off in recent months, with a milestone moment being when he landed a scholarship offer from Kentucky in early May.

Other top colleges that have offered Johnson a scholarship include Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis and Xavier.

Of course, a major storyline with Johnson’s recruitment will be his connections to Lexington.

His father is former Kentucky football star Dennis Johnson, who is now the head football coach and athletic director at Woodford County.

Tre Johnson

Team: Houston Hoops.

Class: 2024.

Nike EYBL stats: 18.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists per game.

Analysis: Formerly the top-ranked recruit in the class of 2024, Tre Johnson is now slotted as the third-best player in the class by the 247Sports Composite.

A 6-foot-5, 180-pound shooting guard, Johnson will be be teaming up with the other Johnson on Kentucky’s radar next season: Like Jasper Johnson, Tre Johnson has also announced a move to Link Academy to continue his prep basketball career. Tre Johnson won a state championship last season at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas.

A solid mid-range shooter who has been displaying an improved handle of late, Johnson also boasts the length necessary to be a valuable point of attack defender.

Johnson is also a prep player with the distinct skill of being able to make difficult shots.

One of his few deficiencies is a lack of efficient scoring: Johnson has shot worse than 40% from the field in eight EYBL games this year.

Johnson just wrapped up playing for the United States at the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in Hungary over the weekend, so it’s unclear when Johnson could arrive at Peach Jam and how much he’ll play for Houston Hoops.

Recruiting intel: In May, Johnson released a list of his top six schools, with Kentucky making the cut. The list included Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Kentucky and Texas.

Johnson’s father played college basketball at Baylor.

Johnson took an official visit to UK in January for the Wildcats’ home game against Kansas.

In June, Johnson told ZagsBlog that while he has no timetable to make his college commitment, he is hoping to visit Alabama and Arkansas this summer. Johnson has officially visited the other four schools on his final list.

Karter Knox

Team: Florida Rebels.

Class: 2024.

Nike EYBL stats: 21.2 points, 4.5 rebounds per game; 34.2% three-point shooting.

Analysis: Karter Knox is a star recruit in the class of 2024, and he already has family ties to Kentucky.

Knox’s older brother, Kevin, was a one-and-done player at Kentucky (and an eventual lottery pick in the NBA Draft) during the 2017-18 season, with John Calipari as UK’s head coach and current Louisville head coach Kenny Payne as UK’s associate head coach.

Both programs, along with a couple others, are in hot pursuit of the 6-foot-5, 205-pound small forward who is a consensus five-star recruit.

Whether it’s his ability to go coast-to-coast with the basketball when turning defense into offense, or to beat his individual defender and apply pressure at the rim, Knox’s versatility is a highlight of his game. In addition to these skills, Knox has stood out on the EYBL circuit this year for being able to score in a variety of situations, be it catch-and-shoot opportunities or when stepping into his shot.

The 247Sports Composite has Knox as the No. 6 overall recruit in the class of 2024.

Recruiting intel: In May, Knox released a list of his final eight post-high school basketball pathways, and Kentucky made the cut. Knox’s list of eight options included: Auburn, Arkansas, Florida State, Kentucky, LSU, Louisville and South Florida. Additionally, Knox is open to joining the NBA’s G-League Ignite program.

Another Knox brother, Kobe, spent two seasons (one as a redshirt) at Grand Canyon University before entering the transfer portal this offseason and picking South Florida as his next school.

Knox was at Big Blue Madness in Lexington last fall, and he also took a visit to Louisville last October. His recruitment has been viewed as a battle between Kentucky and Louisville, and that remains the case.

But recently, the grip that UK had on Knox’s recruitment may have slipped just a bit. Arkansas and Florida State are two other schools making a push for Knox, according to Rob Cassidy, who covers recruiting nationally for Rivals.

Ahmad Nowell

Team: Team Final.

Class: 2024.

Nike EYBL stats: 13.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists per game; 40.7% three-point shooting, 83.9% free-throw shooting.

Analysis: Ahmad Nowell is a 6-foot, 180-pound combo guard who is ranked as a four-star recruit by both 247Sports and the 247Sports Composite.

A high school teammate of incoming Kentucky Wildcat Justin Edwards last season in Philadelphia, Nowell is now one of the stars of Edwards’ former travel basketball program, Team Final, which enters Peach Jam with a 16-1 record.

A stocky and strong player, Nowell’s size may limit his court vision at times, but he holds other attributes that more than make up for his stature.

Among these are the ball security he provides on most of Team Final’s possessions, as well as shooting ability that has made him one of the best from three-point range on the Nike EYBL circuit.

Following four sessions, Nowell is among the Nike EYBL leaders in both assists and steals per game (1.5).

His defense was evident during the Herald-Leader’s in-person evaluation of Nowell during the Dallas session, when Nowell was assigned full-court defensive duties against guard Elliot Cadeau, who recently reclassified to join North Carolina this summer.

Recruiting intel: Nowell appears to be in the final stages of his college recruitment, and Kentucky is still a prime player in it.

Last month, Nowell released a list of his final four schools: Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and national champion UConn.

According to On3’s Joe Tipton, Nowell has visited all of his top four schools, except Kentucky. Tipton also reported Nowell plans to make a college decision sometime after Peach Jam.

Jayden Quaintance

Note: Last weekend, it was announced that Quaintance, who played during the Nike EYBL regular season with Team Thad, would be switching to Team Loaded on the Adidas 3SSB circuit.

Team: Team Thad.

Class: 2025.

Nike EYBL stats: 9.9 points, 6.2 rebounds per game.

Analysis: Jayden Quaintance is one of the newest recruiting names to watch for Kentucky: The Wildcats extended a scholarship offer to the five-star, class of 2025 center last month.

Quaintance plays prep basketball for Word of God Christian Academy — which is the same school that produced ex-Cat John Wall — and was a teammate on Team Thad with another UK class of 2025 target, Jasper Johnson.

The 6-foot-10, 210-pound Quaintance, who is ranked as the No. 10 overall player in the 2025 class by the 247Sports Composite, impressed last season while playing for Word of God in the Overtime Elite league. He posted per-game averages of 17.3 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 14 games of OTE regular season play.

He also averaged a double-double across five games of OTE postseason action.

Quaintance also made his mark on the international stage earlier this year while playing for the United States at the 2023 FIBA Men’s Under-16 Americas Championship: During that tournament, Quaintance had per-game averages of 6.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks.

Recruiting intel: Last month, Travis Graf of MADE Hoops reported Quaintance took an unofficial visit to Kentucky, which led to the scholarship offer coming his way.

UK is one of several brand-name schools to have extended a scholarship offer to the elite center prospect: Other top programs that have offered Quaintance include Baylor, Kansas and Oregon.

Billy Richmond

Team: NJ Scholars.

Class: 2024.

Nike EYBL stats: 18 points, 6.1 rebounds per game.

Analysis: From the same Nike EYBL program that brought Kentucky both Aaron Bradshaw and DJ Wagner, the NJ Scholars’ latest star player is another prospect with connections to Kentucky and John Calipari.

Billy Richmond is a 6-foot-5, 200-pound shooting guard ranked as a four-star recruit by both 247Sports and the 247Sports Composite.

He was also a high school teammate last season with both Bradshaw and Wagner at Camden (N.J.) High School, and has already played in front of plenty of UK fans when Camden played a showcase high school game in Frankfort in February.

Richmond has only gotten better since then and the shooting guard (who can also play the “three”) has a strong motor and can get into a strong scoring rhythm, especially from the mid-range.

Recruiting intel: Just a few weeks ago during the Nike EYBL stop in Memphis, Richmond told The Commercial Appeal that he’s planning to visit Alabama, Kentucky, Louisville, Memphis and Miami, and that the current timeline for his college commitment is to do so before his senior season begins. UK offered Richmond a scholarship in late December.

In addition to his Kentucky connections through Camden, Richmond’s father, Billy Richmond Jr., played for Calipari at Memphis (where Richmond is originally from) about 20 years ago.

Meleek Thomas

Team: New Heights Lightning.

Class: 2025.

Nike EYBL stats: 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists per game.

Analysis: At 6-foot-4 and 175 pounds, Meleek Thomas is an intriguing combo guard prospect in the class of 2025.

Ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star recruit who is the sixth-best player overall in the 2025 class, Thomas already has the size and length (albeit with a slender frame) that could translate to the next level.

Thomas, who is from Pittsburgh, fills passing lanes and has a strong motor on both ends of the court, as well as a solid catch-and-shoot motion.

Recruiting intel: The early stages of Thomas’ recruitment is littered with elite college programs.

The likes of Alabama, Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, UConn and Villanova have all extended scholarship offers.

UK made its scholarship offer to Thomas in late April.

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