What Will it Take for Darryn Peterson to Become KU’s Best One-and-Done Ever?

There are a lot of expectations placed upon the shoulders of Kansas basketball freshman Darryn Peterson for this upcoming season. In fact, his debut is easily the most hyped of any KU freshman in recent memory.

Even head coach Bill Self – who normally tempers expectations with his younger players – has been bullish on his young superstar, calling him the best player he’s ever recruited at Kansas and that he’s as excited to coach him as anybody he’s ever recruited.

There’s good reason for Self to feel that way.

Peterson had a dominant senior year at Prolific Prep High School in Napa, California, where he averaged 30.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. He was named the No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class by both 247Sports and On3.com and was also named the Naismith Boys High School Basketball Player of the Year, as well as a McDonald’s All-American (where he took home co-MVP honors in this year’s contest).

If Peterson is able to replicate that kind of success during his (all-but-certain) one season in Lawrence, he may just end up being KU’s best one-and-done player of all time.

In order to do that, Peterson will likely need to eclipse the performance of two former KU phenoms: Andrew Wiggins (2013-14) and Josh Jackson (2016-17).

Outside of Wilt Chamberlain, Andrew Wiggins was likely the most highly touted recruit to ever commit to Kansas. He was labeled “the next LeBron” coming out of high school and was expected to do big things at KU.

While he wasn’t quite the superstar everyone expected, he had a great year averaging 17.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game before being named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, First-Team All-Big 12, and a Second-Team All-American by the Associated Press (AP).

Jackson didn’t receive quite the same fanfare coming out of high school as Wiggins, but he ended up having arguably a stronger freshman year than Wiggins did after averaging 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. Like Wiggins, he too was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-Big 12 before earning Third-Team AP All-American honors.

If Peterson is to be considered the clear-cut, greatest one-and-done in Kansas basketball history, he’ll likely need to top both Wiggins’ and Jackson’s scoring averages and become KU’s first-ever freshman to win Big 12 Player of the Year.

He’ll also have that distinction if he is able to earn First-Team All-American honors and lead KU deeper in the NCAA Tournament than Wiggins (lost in Second Round) and Jackson (lost in Elite 8) were able to.

It all appears to be within grasp for Peterson whose talents will finally be on display Friday night when the Jayhawks travel to Kentucky for their first exhibition of the 2025-26 season against the Louisville Cardinals.