10 days ago
Cayden Daughtry may have solidified himself as the hottest prospect in the class of 2027 following a remarkable run at the 2026 Nike EYBL Peach Jam.
The 6-foot, 155-pound 5-star point guard led the Florida Rebels to the Peach Jam championship, putting together one of the most dominant stretches of the summer. Over his final eight games, Daughtry averaged an incredible 32.3 points, 6.1 ******* ists, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.9 steals per game while shooting 59 percent from the field, 49 percent from three-point range, and 91 percent from the free-throw line.
He capped off the championship run with another sensational performance, finishing with 33 points, nine rebounds, six ******* ists, one block, and just one turnover in the ******* le game.
Following his dominant summer, Daughtry now ranks No. 3 overall nationally and the No. 2 point guard, according to the 247 Sports rankings.
247 Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein has been especially high on Daughtry, calling him “the most skilled player in high school basketball.” Finkelstein praised Daughtry’s elite ball-handling, deep shooting range, advanced finishing package, pick-and-roll decision-making, low turnover rate, and willingness to move without the basketball despite being a high-volume creator.
#sports #finkelstein
The 6-foot, 155-pound 5-star point guard led the Florida Rebels to the Peach Jam championship, putting together one of the most dominant stretches of the summer. Over his final eight games, Daughtry averaged an incredible 32.3 points, 6.1 ******* ists, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.9 steals per game while shooting 59 percent from the field, 49 percent from three-point range, and 91 percent from the free-throw line.
He capped off the championship run with another sensational performance, finishing with 33 points, nine rebounds, six ******* ists, one block, and just one turnover in the ******* le game.
Following his dominant summer, Daughtry now ranks No. 3 overall nationally and the No. 2 point guard, according to the 247 Sports rankings.
247 Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein has been especially high on Daughtry, calling him “the most skilled player in high school basketball.” Finkelstein praised Daughtry’s elite ball-handling, deep shooting range, advanced finishing package, pick-and-roll decision-making, low turnover rate, and willingness to move without the basketball despite being a high-volume creator.
#sports #finkelstein
1 month ago
The Wisconsin Badgers basketball offseason has looked slightly different than normal through the month of June.
Head coach Greg Gard's class of 2027 rounds out the month of June, featuring three high-profile high school talents. Headlined by four-star in-state sensation Jalen Brown, the class also features three-star center Jack Thelen and Baboucarr Ann, Minnesota's No. 1 prospect for the class of '27.
While 247Sports considers Brown the No. 70 player, No. 13 shooting guard, and No. 5 recruit from Wisconsin for the class of 2027, Ann's status as a small forward is certainly comparable. The outlet's composite ranking ranks Ann as the No. 63 overall player, No. 18 small forward, and top-rated recruit from his state, making the tandem one of the most prestigious duos to commit to UW in recent history.
247Sports' director of scouting Adam Finkelstein had this to say about Ann in his recruiting profile:
"Ann is a long-armed, two-way wing who already has versatile tools and yet plenty of potential to keep improving for the foreseeable future... Ann is a long-armed, two-way wing who already has versatile tools and yet plenty of potential to keep improving for the foreseeable future."
Head coach Greg Gard's class of 2027 rounds out the month of June, featuring three high-profile high school talents. Headlined by four-star in-state sensation Jalen Brown, the class also features three-star center Jack Thelen and Baboucarr Ann, Minnesota's No. 1 prospect for the class of '27.
While 247Sports considers Brown the No. 70 player, No. 13 shooting guard, and No. 5 recruit from Wisconsin for the class of 2027, Ann's status as a small forward is certainly comparable. The outlet's composite ranking ranks Ann as the No. 63 overall player, No. 18 small forward, and top-rated recruit from his state, making the tandem one of the most prestigious duos to commit to UW in recent history.
247Sports' director of scouting Adam Finkelstein had this to say about Ann in his recruiting profile:
"Ann is a long-armed, two-way wing who already has versatile tools and yet plenty of potential to keep improving for the foreseeable future... Ann is a long-armed, two-way wing who already has versatile tools and yet plenty of potential to keep improving for the foreseeable future."
1 month ago
Jun. 25—Gonzaga has now gone two years without a Sweet 16 appearance or NBA draft pick — droughts that probably felt inconceivable during a nine-year run when Mark Few's program didn't miss the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament and churned out 12 total NBA selections.
The Zags hope to break both dry spells next year and NBA **** ysts forecasting next year's draft class already think GU is in a strong position to have at least one selection — if not multiple — when the draft comes back around next June.
Gonzaga's Davis Fogle and Massamba Diop both appeared in way-too-early mock drafts published by national media outlets hours after Wednesday's 2026 NBA Draft concluded at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Fogle's name appeared most frequently, with multiple publications projecting the sophomore wing as either a first- or second-round pick in 2027. In Bleacher Report's way-too-early mock draft, author Jonathan Wasserman projects Fogle to be picked No. 28 overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder. CBS Sports didn't include Fogle in its first-round projections, but writer Adam Finkelstein highlighted Fogle as one of the returning college players "expected to make a jump" in 2026-27.
"Essentially, these would be players who weren't viewed as first-round candidates this year, but could be on the verge of a breakout season," Finkelstein wrote. "These are harder to forecast, but some of the players I'll be watching most closely include Duke's Dame Sarr, USC's Alijah Arenas, NC State's Paul McNeil, Texas' Matas Vokietaitis, Miami's Shelton Henderson, Arizona's Ivan Kharchenkov, and Gonzaga's Davis Fogle."
The Zags hope to break both dry spells next year and NBA **** ysts forecasting next year's draft class already think GU is in a strong position to have at least one selection — if not multiple — when the draft comes back around next June.
Gonzaga's Davis Fogle and Massamba Diop both appeared in way-too-early mock drafts published by national media outlets hours after Wednesday's 2026 NBA Draft concluded at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Fogle's name appeared most frequently, with multiple publications projecting the sophomore wing as either a first- or second-round pick in 2027. In Bleacher Report's way-too-early mock draft, author Jonathan Wasserman projects Fogle to be picked No. 28 overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder. CBS Sports didn't include Fogle in its first-round projections, but writer Adam Finkelstein highlighted Fogle as one of the returning college players "expected to make a jump" in 2026-27.
"Essentially, these would be players who weren't viewed as first-round candidates this year, but could be on the verge of a breakout season," Finkelstein wrote. "These are harder to forecast, but some of the players I'll be watching most closely include Duke's Dame Sarr, USC's Alijah Arenas, NC State's Paul McNeil, Texas' Matas Vokietaitis, Miami's Shelton Henderson, Arizona's Ivan Kharchenkov, and Gonzaga's Davis Fogle."
1 month ago
Henri Veesaar bet on himself. The former North Carolina big man left Chapel Hill after a breakout season, turned down massive NIL offers and entered the 2026 NBA Draft expecting to hear his name in the first round.
Instead, he sat through almost the entire draft before finally going 52nd overall — a slide that underscored just how risky that bet turned out to be. In an era when top college stars can command seven-figure deals without ever leaving campus, Veesaar's decision has quickly become a cautionary tale about jumping too soon.
"This is one of the all-time fumbles in draft history," CBS Sports' Matt Norlander said of Henri Veesaar's decision to leave North Carolina early for the 2026 NBA Draft.
Norlander argued that the financial gap between Veesaar's draft reality and his college options is stark.
"He could have returned to UNC, gotten $5 million, been the centerpiece at a blue blood program on a preseason top-15 team for a coach who, as Fink (Adam Finkelstein) just mentioned, has already shown what he can do with a big like Jokić," Norlander said. "He would've had a great chance to turn himself into a top-20 pick in a much weaker 2027 draft. Instead, this decision completely overshadows the weeks- and months-long co-peak conversation we were having. It doesn't even compare at this point."
Instead, he sat through almost the entire draft before finally going 52nd overall — a slide that underscored just how risky that bet turned out to be. In an era when top college stars can command seven-figure deals without ever leaving campus, Veesaar's decision has quickly become a cautionary tale about jumping too soon.
"This is one of the all-time fumbles in draft history," CBS Sports' Matt Norlander said of Henri Veesaar's decision to leave North Carolina early for the 2026 NBA Draft.
Norlander argued that the financial gap between Veesaar's draft reality and his college options is stark.
"He could have returned to UNC, gotten $5 million, been the centerpiece at a blue blood program on a preseason top-15 team for a coach who, as Fink (Adam Finkelstein) just mentioned, has already shown what he can do with a big like Jokić," Norlander said. "He would've had a great chance to turn himself into a top-20 pick in a much weaker 2027 draft. Instead, this decision completely overshadows the weeks- and months-long co-peak conversation we were having. It doesn't even compare at this point."
1 month ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has charged a Texas doctor in an $89 million healthcare fraud scheme, accusing him of billing insurers for medically unnecessary cardiovascular screening tests for college student-athletes and then rubber-stamping the results as normal without reviewing them.
Jason Finkelstein, 53, faces charges of healthcare fraud and conspiracy in what prosecutors describe as a yearslong scheme that preyed on the fears of athletes that they could die on playing fields or courts of sudden cardiac arrest.
Athletes with no preexisting conditions who were concerned about being cleared to compete were administered tests they did not need and, in one case, a patient whose results were falsely certified as normal later died after his significant heart problems were undetected, the indictment says.
The prosecution is among a series of cases that the Justice Department intends to highlight at a news conference Tuesday in announcing what it says are record results in a nationwide crackdown on healthcare fraud, a long-running federal law enforcement priority that the Trump administration over the last year has sought to emphasize.
The department says Finkelstein's case, with allegations not only of unrendered services but also poor medical performance that put patients at risk, represents the type of sophisticated scheme prosecutors are striving to disrupt.
Jason Finkelstein, 53, faces charges of healthcare fraud and conspiracy in what prosecutors describe as a yearslong scheme that preyed on the fears of athletes that they could die on playing fields or courts of sudden cardiac arrest.
Athletes with no preexisting conditions who were concerned about being cleared to compete were administered tests they did not need and, in one case, a patient whose results were falsely certified as normal later died after his significant heart problems were undetected, the indictment says.
The prosecution is among a series of cases that the Justice Department intends to highlight at a news conference Tuesday in announcing what it says are record results in a nationwide crackdown on healthcare fraud, a long-running federal law enforcement priority that the Trump administration over the last year has sought to emphasize.
The department says Finkelstein's case, with allegations not only of unrendered services but also poor medical performance that put patients at risk, represents the type of sophisticated scheme prosecutors are striving to disrupt.
