Kansas Jayhawks freshman star Darryn Peterson has been held back by multiple injuries out of the gate, and after Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self provided a murky update on the matter last week, he gave a new one on Monday night.
“[Peterson’s family] made a decision, which I don’t disagree with it at all, that they want him to be as close to 100 percent as possible when he comes back,” Self said on Monday night following Kansas’ 90-61 victory over Davidson, per ESPN. “He’s just not quite there yet. It’s a day-to-day deal. He will be [ready]. I wish he could have played tonight, but the fact of the matter is other guys got some run and did well.
“So hopefully giving other guys some opportunities will make us deeper when we get into conference play.”
While saying that Peterson, who’s currently dealing with a quad injury, will “continue to work tirelessly and prepare to compete with his teammates and represent Kansas in the very near future,” Self said last week that the 6-foot-6 guard “is not able to compete at full strength,” according to ESPN.
After the Jayhawks’ first two games of the season, Peterson missed seven games due to a hamstring injury. Then, in his second game back from the hamstring injury, Peterson suffered a quad injury in a Dec. 13 overtime win over NC State.
Through the four games that Peterson has appeared in, he has averaged a team-high 19.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 52.8/42.3/76.9. Peterson was a consensus top-three recruit in the Class of 2025 and is a potential top-10 selection in the 2026 NBA Draft.
“We’ve talked about this. We’re in agreement with the family that he should not play until he feels good,” Self said about Peterson on Monday night. “We’re in agreement. But I’m not inside his head or his body that I can determine if he feels good enough or not. That’s up to him. He wants to be out there. He’s just not ready.”
Elsewhere, sophomore forward Flory Bidunga is averaging 14.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game; senior guard Tre White is averaging 14.5 points and seven rebounds per game; fellow senior Melvin Council Jr. is averaging 12.9 points, 5.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.
The No. 17-ranked Jayhawks are 10-3. While Kansas has a ranked win over Tennessee under its belt, it has also lost ranked matchups to North Carolina, Duke and UConn.
Next up for Kansas is a road matchup against UCF on Jan. 3 in what’s the former’s Big 12 season opener.
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