NBA Draft: Darryn Peterson Stars for Kansas in Return to Play

On Sunday afternoon, Kansas star Darryn Peterson finally made his return to play, helping the Jayhawks to a win over Missouri.

After playing the Jayhawks’ first two games of the season, Peterson subsequently missed the next six while dealing with a hamstring injury. There was some mystery surrounding how long he would be out, or how close he was to playing, with head coach Bill Self offering several updates throughout the process.

In Sunday’s bout against the Tigers, he was finally loosed.

All in all, Peterson finished with 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting, leading the Jayhawks by hitting three of his nine attempted triples. He didn’t finish the game to his standard in the efficiency department, but still was an obviously vital piece to Kansas’ win. He was seen being attended by the trainers in the second half, though there's been no update on that front.

Peterson was clearly still working himself back into shape after his hiatus, which especially makes sense coming off a hamstring injury. He was up and down in the aggression department, picking his spots in getting to his shots, and deferring the rest of the time. He seemed to be somewhat testy with the hamstring in terms of accelerating, though his pace and craft still helped him to get downhill several times.

He showed his prowess from beyond the arc, hitting several high-difficulty triples.

Overall, it was a nice return for Peterson, who is certain to get better as the season progresses. Kansas has struggled in his absence, dropping two games, though they're clearly a different team with him on-court.

Peterson is still in competition with Duke’s Cameron Boozer and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa to become the top pick at the 2026 NBA Draft. Many scouts and NBA decision-makers entered the season with Peterson at No. 1, though the other two’s production, coupled with Peterson’s missed time, has likely changed conversations slightly.

Boozer has been a basketball-winning machine with the undefeated Blue Devils, outputting 23.0 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 56% overall. Dybantsa hasn’t as statistically dominant, though he jumps off the screen via the eye-test, and is still averaging a superb 19.4 points on 54% shooting.

Despite just how good the forward and wing have been for their respective schools, several NBA teams are certain to value Peterson's skills in the backcourt, as he can moonlight at either position, and possesses a great athletic combination of verticality, burst, pace and more.

Peterson and Kansas next take on NC State next Saturday, Dec. 13.