Why Darryn Peterson is ready to be the face of Kansas basketball
By SAM LANCE
MURRAY, KENTUCKY — Next season, the Kansas Jayhawks are going to look much different. Program players like Dajuan Harris and KJ Adams will be gone, along with Hunter Dickinson, Zeke Mayo, Shakeel Moore, Diggy Coit, and possibly others.
Kansas isn’t just losing its four leading scorers and most of its production — it’s losing the heart and soul of the roster. These are the players who know what it takes to win in Lawrence. These are the faces of the program fans have rallied behind.
Don’t fret just yet, though, Jayhawk nation. Kansas won’t be searching for a new leader for long. The future arrives in 2025-26. His name is Darryn Peterson.
“This is one of the best recruiting moments that Kansas basketball has had in decades,” Bill Self said when Peterson was signed. “Darryn is an all-around guard that scores at all levels and is also a terrific facilitator and defender. He has been well drilled and has a toughness about him being raised in a family where his brother is a successful football player at Wisconsin. Darryn was as important as any recruit we have recruited in recent memory.”
But what is it about the No. 2 recruit in the 2025 class that makes him so special? Why has Self and company tabbed him as the future “face” of the Kansas program? It’s a long story — so let’s start at the beginning.
Firstly, Peterson grew up around basketball. His father, Darryl Peterson, was a standout forward at the University of Akron, and he still sits in the school’s top 10 for career scoring. Darryl made it his mission to pass the game down to his son, instilling lessons he learned during his playing days.
“I didn’t make it that far,” Darryl told ZAGSBLOG. “So I tried to pass down everything I’d learned — all the tricks and little edges I didn’t have. That’s why he writes with his left hand but shoots with his right. I always wanted to be a lefty, so I made sure he could do it all.”
Building this foundation paid dividends early in Peterson’s career. By second grade, he was playing up against fourth graders on an AAU basketball team in Canton, Ohio.
“That’s just kind of when I first saw him and kind of knew we were onto something,” Darryl said. “He’s pretty good. He’s holding his own against fourth graders. And he was a young second grader.”
As Peterson progressed, his father launched a family-run AAU organization in Ohio to give him consistent competition. By fifth grade, Darryl saw a significant shift.
“He hit a growth spurt, all the skill stuff and speed and agility stuff just kind of kicked in all of a sudden,” Darryl recalled. “So in fifth grade, I kind of realized ‘Woah, we got something here.’ I told my wife, ‘We need to start investing more time and more resources and more stuff into him.’ Because that’s when I really knew in fifth grade that he was going to be a star.”
From there, the Peterson family avoided middle school basketball due to restrictive rules of leagues that didn’t align with his father’s vision of “real basketball.” You couldn’t press and couldn’t trap, among other things. So instead, Darryl created competitive local leagues to ensure his son developed in a way that prepared him for the high school level. No wonder Peterson was an immediate impact player to start his career at CVCA (Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy).
During his sophomore season at CVCA, it really started to click for Peterson at a high level. That year, he averaged 31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 2.8 steals on the way to becoming a finalist for the Ohio Mr. Basketball award, which was won by Indiana’s Gabe Cupps.
Peterson’s trajectory continued upward with stints at Huntington Prep (WV) for his junior year and stellar performances on the Adidas 3SSB circuit. This past summer, the five-star averaged 28.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 4.2 steals, and 3.0 blocks with Phenom United. Now, he’s enjoying his final season of high school basketball at Prolific Prep before he heads off to Kansas.
Darryn Peterson went OFF in a big-time matchup against AJ Dybantsa and Utah Prep pic.twitter.com/bsVHqatWwV
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) December 8, 2024
But it’s not just his play on the court that makes Peterson special. It’s what he does off the court everyday to prepare him for the next level.
“One thing about him, when he sets a goal he sticks to it,” Darryl said. “Like, he hasn’t had soda or juice or anything in the whole 2024. He’s only had water, alkaline water, spring water the whole 2024. Changed his diet. Cut out all the fast food. The McDonald’s, the lower chain foods. You know what I mean? So just the discipline, the commitment to being in shape.”
When you think about the “one-of-ones” in athletics — people like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams, Michael Phelps, Tom Brady and Tiger Woods — Darryl said they all have one thing in common. And that’s being in supreme shape.
“So he took that in and really put a lot of effort and attention into his conditioning,” Darryl said. “So we cut out certain things. I don’t think anyone is doing the stuff that he’s doing to prepare. I know a lot of these guys are drilling and skilling and shooting shots and working with trainers. But it’s the other stuff. The yoga he’s doing. The meditation stuff. The diet. The body. The whole spectrum of things that he’s doing, I just think nobody else is doing it. And it’s showing.”
“Darryn’s level of maturity is off the charts,” Prolific Prep coach Ryan Bernardi added. “You talk about treating every day like it’s the most important day, and he really embodies that… Just the level of thinking, the level of maturity for a kid his age, is well above others.”
There’s another dimension to Peterson besides his preparation that equally defines him as a player: his alternate persona, “Bucket Jones.” Darryl said at one point in his career Peterson didn’t care about wins or losses, he just cared about the buckets.
“It was like, ‘Hey, we lost. But I had 50,'” Darryl said. “So nothing made him happy but the buckets. He could have all the steals, all the blocks, all the assists and we’ll get the win and he’s still down because he didn’t get the amount of buckets. So it was just more like a bucket addiction. When you’re jonesin’ for something. He had a bucket jones. You know what I mean? So we created this character behind it, the ego behind it. When he steps onto the court he’s not Darryn, he turns into his alter-ego Bucket Jones. He feels like no one can stop him from getting a bucket.”
Nowadays, though, Peterson is getting away from all of that. He’s not addicted to buckets anymore. He said he’s now addicted to winning games.
“He’s trying to show more that he’s a team player and we’re going for more the No. 1 pick kind of thing,” Darryl said. “You have to show that you can make other guys better. Anyone and everyone at this level can get a bucket. But when you can make other people better when you can defend.
Darryl continued:
“We’re trying to trademark — you know they say two-way player — we’re trying to do a three-way player now. He’s going to be a scorer, make other guys better, and defend. So we’re adding in there making guys better; that’s another dimension we’re adding. And we feel like in order to compete, to win a national championship, to be a No. 1 pick, we have to defend. We have to make other guys better. And we have to score. So we’re just trying to evolve. I don’t want him just stuck in that bubble where he’s just a scorer. I want him to do everything.”
When Peterson arrives in Lawrence, he’s likely to take over the point guard position. That’s the role Kansas has mapped out for him, and the position Peterson said he plans to play. But really, Peterson doesn’t care about his specific role. There’s only one thing on his mind: winning a national title. To help him reach that feat, he’s been watching a lot of Carmelo Anthony lately, especially highlights from his one season at Syracuse where he led the Orange to a 2003 national championship.
“It was just more of a not just a one-and-done situation, but winning a national championship as a freshman,” Darryl said of Anthony. “So that’s just kind of the mindset he’s been in. He’s been watching a lot of Kobe stuff, a lot of Michael stuff. And then just watching that year with Carmelo Anthony. So we’re not just coming here to just be a one-and-done — a guy that said he’s going to be one year and out of here. We’re trying to win a national championship. And I think he can do it.”
Kansas has been recruiting Peterson since he was an eighth/ninth grader. He’s built a great relationship with Bill Self and the rest of the staff over the years, but it was the official visit that set things in stone for his commitment.
“It just felt like home and I went with my heart — that’s where my heart led me,” Peterson said. “I wouldn’t say there was a specific moment. Really it was the whole thing. I just felt like this is where I want to be really. Just going into the Phog, everything about it was just like ‘This is where I need to be at.'”
As Peterson prepares to step into the spotlight at Kansas, he remains committed to excellence. His path has consisted of countless hours of preparation, lessons from his father, and an understanding that success isn’t just about scoring points — it’s about making everyone around him better.
And next year at Kansas, Peterson won’t just be another five-star recruit. He’ll be paving the future of the program while leading Kansas in battle. And for Darryl, there’s no doubt his son is ready to embrace that role.
“I believe in coach Self and the coaching staff,” Darryl said. “That’s the best coach on the planet. Best basketball program on the planet. So they know what they’re talking about. And I don’t think they have any reason to mislead us when they are saying he’s the guy, he’s the face of the program and they want to build around him. I trust them. Darryn trusts them. So we’re excited.”
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