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Kansas Jayhawks star Darryn Peterson may be the best player in college basketball and, as such, might well be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. But a strange situation has plagued him throughout his freshman season.
The 6-foot-5, 205-pound wing is averaging 19.8 points per game on 44.2 percent shooting from the field and 38.4 percent from beyond the arc. But Peterson has also played in 22 of 31 games for the 14th-ranked Jayhawks and averages 28 minutes per night.
Compare that to 34 games and 34.6 minutes for BYU star AJ Dybantsa, and 33 games at 32.9 minutes per game for Duke’s Cam Boozer, Peterson’s two biggest competitors for the No. 1 overall pick.
So, what gives?
Surely Kansas and head coach Bill Self would like to have their best player on the court more often, right?
Self has danced around the issue for much of the season, saying only that Peterson has dealt with ongoing injury issues. But it has appeared various times throughout the season as if Peterson, not Self, is deciding when and how much he plays for the Jayhawks.
Peterson recently shone a bit of light on his issues and how he’s been dealing with them as the season progresses.
Darryn Peterson Suffered From Strange Full Body Cramping
In an interview with Shreyas Laddha of the Kansas City Star, Peterson explained that he’s been dealing with full-body cramping that was “traumatic” for him to work through.
“I had like a full-body [cramp], super serious,” Peterson said. ”You could say it was traumatic. I would say it was a traumatic experience.”
Peterson explained that the incident first occurred in September during the program’s annual boot camp and that he had to go to the hospital to receive IV fluids at one point.
“The previous week, we had boot camp where we were just running, no basketball,” he expanded. “The previous week caught up to me, and my body just locked up on me, I guess.”
Anybody who has dealt with significant cramping can tell you how painful it can be. But normally it’s something that is easily treated and doesn’t have long-lasting effects.
Additionally, it can typically be managed moving forward with proper nutrition and hydration. So, why has Peterson’s situation lingered for so long?
“It was traumatic for me. So much, I tried to fight until it … I kind of couldn’t,” he explained. “Your mind is a joystick, my dad tells me. You can’t beat your mind.”
Peterson played 28 minutes in Kansas’ most recent game, a 69-47 loss to Houston in the Big 12 tournament semifinals. But he scored just 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting.
He’s still expected to be a top selection come this summer’s NBA Draft. But NBA scouts and executives will certainly have plenty of questions when they finally get the chance to sit down and interview Peterson during the pre-draft process.