Kansas Basketball Fans: No Need to Panic (Yet) About Darryn Peterson

It was announced on Friday that Kansas basketball’s star freshman guard Darryn Peterson is set to miss his second straight game for the Jayhawks as they get to set to welcome in the Princeton Tigers to Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday for a 1 p.m. CT tip-off on ESPN+.

This is the third game in total that Peterson has missed thus far into the 2025-26 season – if you count KU’s exhibition game against Fort Hays State in late October – and it’s beginning to cause some concern among the Jayhawk faithful.

It’s not hard to understand why. Peterson was one of the most coveted high school basketball prospects this past decade, and many consider him to be a top five player in college basketball this year. Even Self has referred to him as the most talented player they’ve ever recruited.

And now he’s missing his second game with a hamstring injury after previously missing time due to cramping issues.

The news is not ideal, but it’s also not a reason for KU fans to panic at this point.

Peterson missing a game against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi and now against a 2-1 Princeton team, who was picked fourth in the Ivy League preseason rankings and lost 104-69 to Akron last week, isn’t going to make or break KU’s season.

Peterson is without a doubt the key to a successful season this year for KU. He’s the engine that makes this team go. But that is precisely why there shouldn’t be a huge amount of concern for him missing these pair of games.

He needs to be healthy for games versus teams like Duke coming up on Monday and the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas next week. Those are the types of games that (with a win) will help KU’s NCAA Tournament resume come March.

So, if he has to miss a couple of games to get healthy for the more important matchups, then that’s okay. That’s the right move for KU long term this season and for Peterson who has legitimate No. 1 NBA Draft pick potential in 2026.

Plus, it gives other players the chance to step up and grow their game like freshman Kohl Rosario did against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi when he led the team in scoring with 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in the 77-46 win.

If Peterson misses the Duke game, then it will be time to start worrying. But in the meantime, it’s best to follow the words of another former KU freshman phenom Joel Embiid and just “trust the process.”