Cayden Daughtry's meteoric rise proves Ben McCollum has a keen eye for talent

There haven't been many men's basketball prospects who have burst onto the scene as much as top Iowa target Cayden Daughtry.

The talented Florida point guard prospect has been making a name for himself this summer, and that is great news for the Hawkeyes. Ben McCollum and the program have been aggressively pursuing Daughtry since last summer and have remained active in his recruitment. As Daughtry continued to show out and continued to shoot up the rankings for the 2027 class, Iowa has been along for the ride.

Daughtry has exploded into the top five of 247Sports' rankings

In mid-June, Daughtry was leading the Nike EYBL in scoring at 23.7 points per game and started his climb to the top of the rankings. He also locked in an official visit to Iowa City for later September and continues to be a focal point for the Hawkeyes and McCollum. As the summer continued, Daughtry continued opening eyes with his performances for Team USA and for The Florida Rebels on the EYBL circuit, and he leaped over ten spots to fall in the top five heading into the final stretch of summer.

Daughtry went from being a top-15 prospect to a top-three prospect in a month, with 247Sports putting him at No. 3 overall in their rankings. Daughtry's meteoric rise in the rankings came on the heels of guiding the Florida Rebels to a Peach Jam title, putting up multiple head-turning performances along the way. He averaged 32.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 2.9 steals per game, with elite shooting percentages across the board. He shot 63 percent from the field, 49 percent from beyond the arc, and 91 percent from the free-throw line during the eight games of the Tournament.

McCollum's aggressive pursuit of Daughtry has started to pay dividends, with On3 Sports giving the program a 39 percent chance to sign the talented guard, but after his performances at the Peach Jam and for Team USA, the competition to sign him is going to get a lot stiffer. While Iowa is the early favorite, Arkansas, Louisville, Miami, Michigan, and Tennessee are all considered to be thoroughly in the mix for Daughtry, increasing the difficulty level. It is no secret that McCollum and the program have placed Daughtry at the top of their priority list, but they must stay aggressive and impress on his official visit this fall.

Daughtry is just the PG Iowa needs to become consistent contenders

It is hard to judge what a prospect will do in college after dominating at the amateur level, but Daughtry has all the tools to become one of the top point guards in the country. His immense talent was on full display during the Peach Jam, where he not only filled up the stat sheet, but also proved he is an elite, efficient three-level scorer and could be the key to fully unlocking McCollum's offense. Even though he isn't the biggest guard in the class, he is easily one of the most talented, and if McCollum was aggressively pursuing him before, he will have to step it up a notch.

The cat is officially out of the bag, and Daughtry is not only a top point guard in the 2027 class, but he is also one of the top overall prospects in the class, making it even more difficult for Iowa to get him to Iowa City. It will be difficult to sign him with multiple other big-time programs heavily involved, and it will be interesting to see how much money he will command as one of the best prospects in the class. Whatever he costs, the Hawkeyes must pay it, because he is the type of game-changing guard the program needs.

Iowa doesn't often get one-and-done players who commit to the program and immediately jump to the NBA, but Daughtry has that kind of talent despite his size, and the Hawkeyes must take advantage. There is no guarantee that Daughtry has even considered a one-and-done scenario when he gets to college next season, but that conversation is definitely on the table. McCollum must find a way to impress Daughtry and convince him on his OV from September 11-13 that he doesn't need to leave campus. Iowa's pursuit of Daughtry has similarities to the program's former pursuit of smaller five-star guard Tyler Uhlis, where the program narrowly missed out thanks to Jon Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats.

McCollum and the program have laid the foundation from early on in Daughtry's recruitment, and now it's time to seal the deal.

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