The Darryn Peterson saga continues to get weirder.
Three minutes into the second half of Kansas’ 81–69 win over Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Peterson, who is considered one of the top prospects in June’s loaded NBA draft, signaled to Jayhawks head coach Bill Self to take him out of the game.
Peterson’s early exit came in a game in which he was rolling. The 6-foot-6 guard scored 23 points in just 18 minutes, showing the effortless scoring that has multiple NBA teams tanking for a chance at his services.
Self later cited cramping as the reason Peterson exited the game and expressed both concern and surprise about his star freshman’s latest injury.
“I didn’t anticipate that tonight at all,” Self told reporters in his postgame press conference. “I thought he was good to go. But we only got 18 minutes out of him. That’s disappointing because he could have had a really good night.”
The Jayhawks are 20–6 and ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll despite Peterson playing in just 15 games this season. He’s missed time due to ankle and hamstring injuries. In December, Self admitted that Peterson’s family has influenced his availability when coming back from injury.
“We’ve talked about this,” Self said at the time. “We’re in agreement with the family that he should not play until he feels good. We’re in agreement. But I’m not inside his head or his body that I can determine if he feels good enough or not.”
Peterson was a late scratch against No. 1 Arizona on Feb. 10 after going through pregame warmups. The Jayhawks pulled off the upset without him, and Self said after the game that he learned the Canton, Ohio native couldn’t play until an hour before tipoff. That situation had its own firestorm after Barstool Sports posted a video of an ESPN contractor texting a different story.
“So he’s sick and he didn’t tell anyone in practice and Bill said don’t half ass it if your gonna play, if not sit,” the text message appeared to say. “[Peterson] said, ‘Fuck It, I’m out.’”
The tweet went viral and Kansas athletics spokesperson Daniel Berk responded publicly less than 90 minutes later, stating that the person didn’t work for KU and “has no inside information and was speculating.”
And on Wednesday, Self admitted Peterson asked to come out of the game earlier than he did. Peterson hit a 3 early in the second half before motioning to Self to make a substitution.
“He was going to come out, I think, before he made the 3 (at the 17:23 mark),” Self said. “And then he makes the 3 and says, ‘Get me.’”
Peterson, Duke’s Cam Boozer, and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa are considered the top three prospects in June’s NBA draft, widely considered one of the deepest in years. A longtime NBA scout said Peterson’s situation and unpredictable availability is unprecedented, mainly because of the program it’s occurring at.
“Haven’t seen this before,” the scout told Front Office Sports. “Especially with a Hall of Fame coach.”
Self has called Peterson, “the best player we’ve recruited since we’ve been here,” a list that also includes Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins, and the Morris twins among 13 total lottery picks he’s had at KU. The Jayhawks are among college basketball’s blue bloods and are used to such prospects, unlike LSU with Ben Simmons or Rutgers with Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey last season.
The scout added that Peterson has glowing reviews as a person, but Dybantsa’s recent play has given him a strong case to unseat Peterson as the draft’s top overall prospect.
“If there were no issues with [Peterson] he would go 1 or 2,” the scout said. “AJ has played great this month. When he is locked in–he is special. And so is [Peterson].”
The Jayhawks are currently projected as a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, and Peterson’s unpredictable availability will hang over their title chances.
“If [Darryn Peterson’s] gonna get into the NCAA Tournament, and you’re gonna load manage… why even be a part of it,” former NBA and Kentucky star Jamal Mashburn said on TNT’s postgame show Wednesday.
Self is aware of Peterson’s impact on his team’s championship odds with and without Peterson, which is why he said Wednesday that he’s concerned about the cramps that caused him to exit the game when he did.
“You get into the NCAA tournament, you’re playing a team just as good as you and you need to have all your best players available, so to speak,” Self said. “All it takes is for one day like that to derail not only a game, but a season. It’s concerning, but I do think we’re making progress with it.”
