Peach Jam: Storylines that emerged from the annual event

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. – The 2023 installment of Peach Jam has come and gone, and the star-studded event was full of big names and bigger performances. Today, Rivals recruiting director Rob Cassidy has a look back on the week that was with a column addressing a few of the big-picture stories he observed in the four days he spent covering the event.

MORE FROM PEACH JAM: The Cassidy Awards | Kentucky, Indiana join Michigan schools in race to land Darius Acuff | Cooper Flagg backs up ranking | Cassidy's thoughts

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Admittedly, there didn’t seem to be much separating Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer at the top of the 2025 rankings when Rivals became the first to flip the two budding stars in the rankings nearly a month ago, making Flagg the top prospect in the class.

In fact, some doubt crept in at the NBA100 Camp, where Boozer got the best of Flagg in an early one-on-one matchup. But such concerns have faded in the wake of Peach Jam, a stage on which Flagg absolutely stole the show and announced himself as the marquee prospect in all of high school basketball with a 38-point, six-rebound, 11-block, six-assist performance in pool play.

The effort was part of a week that saw the five-star wing showcase his rare versatility while averaging 25 points, 13 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 6.8 blocks per game in seven Peach Jam contests. It was seven days of Flagg proving he not only has the highest upside in the 2025 class but also possesses the ability to do things that few other players can.

Flagg has long been the subject of reclassification rumors. And, these days, it’s quite clear that if he ends up as a member of the class of 2024 he’ll top that ranking as well.

When you talk about college basketball in 2023, you talk about the transfer portal. That’s simply how things are now, and the conversations between college coaches at Peach Jam followed that new but well-established unwritten rule.

All the usual talking points were well-represented, but the most interesting sub-genre of portal chatter centered on what it means for the current crop of high school prospects, and how a back-of-the-rankings prospect may not be a high-major lock in the era of power programs using small-conference schools as minor league affiliates.

Of course, the portal era is still in its infancy, so nobody actually knows how things will shake out long-term, and five-star, one-and-done types are always going to be in high demand. That said, more than one major college assistant spoke with me at length about holding back scholarships and declining to offer players they would have thrown a scholarship at without much hesitation five years ago.

Couple that with high-profile head coaches such as Duke’s Jon Scheyer going on record saying he intends to sign fewer high school prospects in the years ahead and it sure feels like a bad time to be a guy at the back end of the Rivals150.

Peach Jam has long been a marquee event on the basketball calendar, and its influence is still growing. The weeklong event seems to be on the verge of transitioning from a famed grassroots basketball tournament to a full-fledged cultural event, and the Riverview Park Activities Center in North Augusta, S.C., is simply not built to handle this level of pomp, circumstance and massive crowds, all of which seem to grow exponentially each year.

Every flavor of media imaginable, from major TV networks to niche Tik Tok stars, pack the facility, not only to cover the games but to create content centered around the expanding celebrity sideshow. The right video of LeBron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony or Russell Westbrook – all of whom were in the gym this year – equates to big-time views for social creators. Non-credentialed media often travel to South Carolina to shoot video from the stands, while a massive number of fans pile into the 120,000-square-foot facility as well.

Peach Jam is a high-level basketball tournament. It’s also a networking event, a college coach convention and a social media bonanza. It all results in overcrowded gyms that end up closing doors and turning both credentialed media and paying fans away from particularly in-demand games before tipoff. Then, there’s Augusta’s game limited hotel situation, which resulted (at least for me) in a $280-per-night stay at a SpringHill Suites that featured a powdered-egg breakfast.

North Augusta has been a wonderful home for the event and served it incredibly well,, but there simply has to be a better option for the modern Peach Jam. Maybe it’s playing the 17U division in a different gym than the 15U and 16U fields. Maybe just finding a larger facility in a more-equipped city. I don’t have the answer, but it feels like we’re headed toward a breaking point of some sort.

Peach Jam is not some niche high school event. It hasn’t been for years. It’s grown a very real audience of young fans, and its expanding popularity may mean leaving its longtime home behind in an effort to embrace the spectacle it has become and further expand its place in sports culture.