Bill Self Pushes Back on Criticism About Darryn Peterson’s Injury

The uncertainty surrounding Darryn Peterson's injury during his seven-game absence sparked a lot of questions about the Jayhawks' star status.

While head coach Bill Self insisted in October that it wouldn't last long, he missed games for an entire month, and that left fans with a lot of questions. Some people came up with alternative reasons why he might be missing games, such as sitting out for the NBA Draft or even quitting on his team.

Peterson finally made his long-awaited return on Sunday afternoon when the Jayhawks defeated Missouri 80-60 in the Border Showdown. During his postgame press conference, head coach Bill Self backed his freshman star and denied any rumors of these accusations.

"I think it frustrates him," Self said about the speculation. "It's the world we live in, in today's time, though. It's BS, though. That kid's over there getting four treatments a day for 45 minutes every treatment. That kid spends more time shooting on his own than anybody else maybe that I ever coached. That kid wants to be out there so bad."

"Whenever I say whatever I'm going to say, it's not enough for me to say, 'It's day to day,' which that's what it's been day to day. So there's always a reason why somebody can say something negative. If he had had a compound fracture, nobody would say anything, because you can see it. This, you can't see and fortunately, it wasn't bad enough that it kept him totally out because he did practice, but it wasn't good enough that he could play the way he needs to play."

Dec 7, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson (22) drives against Missouri Tigers center Shawn Phillips Jr. (15) during the first half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

A lot of the questions came from Coach Self's lack of straightforwardness about the injury. He referred to the injury as "cramping," a "bug," and "hamstring tightness," all in a matter of weeks.

Then, it eventually came out that the injury was more serious than anticipated and that he hadn’t been practicing. It is understandable why he wasn't entirely honest about the injury, as the team had to focus on bigger things at hand, such as the games they were playing.

In his return, Kansas' offense looked much improved, as Peterson finished with 17 points in 23 minutes played, shooting 6-for-14 from the field and knocking down three 3-pointers. He had to shake off a bit of rust, but he still looked effective nonetheless.

Self continues to go to bat for his freshman phenom and insists that there is nothing bigger at play. Hopefully, no more issues arise with his hamstring.