If you've been following Kansas men's basketball this season, Darryn Peterson is a name you can't miss. The freshman guard is a standout talent, but staying on the court has been a challenge. Cramping issues, a hamstring injury, and illness have sidelined him for 11 games, sparking plenty of chatter among fans and media alike.
Peterson is seen as a top-three prospect for the 2026 NBA Draft, but his availability has some analysts rethinking his draft stock. ESPN's Stephen A. Smith recently questioned Peterson's reliability as a potential No. 1 pick, emphasizing, "The first ability is availability… I can’t trust him."
Adding to the conversation, ESPN's Dick Vitale expressed on social media that it might be time for Kansas and Peterson to part ways, describing the situation as a "soap opera" and highlighting the immense talent Peterson possesses.
Kansas head coach Bill Self weighed in after a recent win at Oklahoma State, acknowledging the recurring cramping issue. "We’ve had it more than a couple times,” Self noted.
“I didn’t anticipate that tonight. But obviously, we only got 18 minutes out of him.
That’s disappointing because he could have had a really big night.”
Peterson did manage to return briefly in the second half, hitting his sixth 3-pointer before signaling to the bench. “He was going to come out before he made the three,” Self explained.
“Then he makes the three and says, ‘Get me.’ I didn’t know that he’d be done, but obviously he was.”
With March Madness on the horizon, Self expressed concern. “You get into the NCAA Tournament and you’re playing a team just as good as you, you need to have all your best players available,” he said. “All it takes is one day like that to derail not only a game, but a season.”
Despite a recent loss at Allen Fieldhouse, there was a silver lining-Peterson completed a full game. “If we’re going to grab a positive out of this today, yeah, let’s go with that," Self remarked. "I actually thought for the most part he moved pretty well."
Peterson remains a dominant yet unpredictable force, capable of changing a game in an instant but still fighting to consistently finish. As Kansas stays in the Big 12 race, the pressing question is whether their star player can reliably stay on the court.