Darryn Peterson Addresses His Injury-Related Absences in New Interview

The Kansas guard was frank about his frustration.

Darryn Peterson’s frequent absences have miffed both Kansas fans and Peterson himself this season. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Kansas has played 27 games this season, and freshman guard Darryn Peterson has appeared in just 16 of them. Everything about the Jayhawks’ 2026 season is being interpreted through this lens.

However, fans and observers have rarely heard from Peterson during his `26 slog, during which he has dealt with a hamstring injury, a quadriceps injury, a sprained ankle, and other ailments.

That changed Monday morning, when ESPN’s Myron Medcalf published a piece on Kansas’s season. It included quotes from an interview he conducted with the 19-year-old between the Jayhawks’ games against Arizona and Oklahoma State; Peterson missed the former with an illness and left the latter with cramps.

“Everybody's got an opinion on it," Peterson told ESPN between the Arizona and Oklahoma State games. "But basketball is my life. If I could have been out there every game this year, I would have.”

Peterson, a native of Canton, Ohio, is widely regarded as a top prospect in the forthcoming NBA draft. When he has played, he’s been mostly terrific, averaging 19.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 27.2 minutes of action.

“If you would have asked me last year, what were my goals for this year, I would never mention missing games,” Peterson said. “So all this stuff kind of just happened, but I've got to deal with it.”

Kansas, which lost 84–68 to Cincinnati Saturday in a home shocker, is scheduled to return to action against Houston on Monday.

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