KANSAS

Bill Self Makes Bold Claim About Kansas Freshman Darryn Peterson

Head coach Bill Self believes that he has never coached a freshman as ready to lead a team as Darryn Peterson.
Joshua Schulman|
Kansas coach Bill Self introduces the senior for speeches following the Sunflower Showdown game inside Allen Fieldhouse Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
Kansas coach Bill Self introduces the senior for speeches following the Sunflower Showdown game inside Allen Fieldhouse Tuesday, March 5, 2024. | Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas Jayhawks freshman Darryn Peterson is entering his freshman year with lofty outside expectations.

Widely considered a top-3 pick in next year’s NBA Draft, KU is getting a generational guard talent for his one-and-done season.

In Thursday’s episode of ‘Inside College Basketball Now’ with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, head coach Bill Self hopped on the episode to talk about the 2025-26 Jayhawks. The Hall of Famer firmly believes Peterson is the best freshman he has ever recruited — more so than stars like Andrew Wiggins, Josh Jackson, and Joel Embiid.

“As a freshman coming in with the ability to put a team on his back, I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I’ve had [someone like Peterson],” Self proclaimed. “We didn’t ask Wiggins to do that as a freshman, Embiid didn’t do that as a freshman, Josh had Frank Mason and Devonte’ Graham as a freshman.”

“With this particular roster, let’s just call it like it is: Darryn needs to be the guy,” he continued. “And if he’s that guy, then he’ll put up numbers that are as good as anyone we’ve had here.”

Following an incredible senior year at Prolific Prep, the Ohio native continued to draw national attention and even jumped BYU’s AJ Dybantsa on some draft boards.

There are question marks surrounding Kansas’ supporting cast, as there was significant roster turnover after the majority of last year’s team graduated or transferred away.

The performance of complementary pieces like returning big man Flory Bidunga and transfers Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White could determine how well KU plays this season.

“The bottom line is the other guys around him need to develop so he does not have to be the guy all the time,” Self concluded.

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Joshua Schulman
JOSHUA SCHULMAN

A longtime Kansas basketball and football fan, Josh is at The College of New Jersey majoring in Communications and minoring in Journalism. Josh has over 1,000 published articles on KU athletics on FanSided's Through the Phog, with additional work at Pro Football Network and Last Word on Sports. In his free time, Josh often broadcasts TCNJ football games on WTSR 91.3FM.

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