Bill Self and No. 9 Kansas put together what’s easily the best win of the season over No. 1 Arizona on Monday night, and did so without one of the sport’s highest-paid players, Darryn Peterson, who sat due to “flu-like symptoms” intensifying before tipoff.
Self, meeting with reporters on Thursday morning, is hopeful Peterson can be closer to ready by Saturday, when the Jayhawks travel to No. 5 Iowa State for yet another top-10 Big 12 matchup in Ames. He also took the opportunity to disavow the online rumors surrounding Peterson’s continued absence throughout the regular season.
Peterson missed Monday’s game with the flu, but did appear for the team’s shoot-around roughly an hour before tipoff. Peterson has regularly dealt with hamstring tightness, cramping and a rolled ankle vs. Colorado.
“I’m not a social media guy,” Self said. “But, I have gotten on X and read some of the things and narratives that’re out there about (Peterson), and it’s, really, not remotely true… When you’re honest, people don’t believe you, and when you don’t comment on it, people create their own narratives. And you know what, I do the same thing about things I don’t know about – ‘Well it must be this, you know, jeez, it has to be that’ – if they’re not going to talk about it.”
He continued:
“But here’s the bottom line: Was his hamstring legit? Hell yes. Would you have risked injuring it more in November? No. Was his cramping legit? Yes, positively it was. Did he turn his ankle bad, to the point where he couldn’t practice for nine days and then practice one day (before) BYU, yes. That was adrenaline kicking in, the BYU game, and then of all things, he gets sick…. He’s got a string of bad luck.”
Whether or not Peterson is 100% before the Iowa State game, Kansas is more than capable of winning this road contest without their freshman NBA lottery pick.
Flory Bidunga and Melvin Council churned out 23 points apiece against Arizona, and Bryson Tiller is coming off his best performance (18 points, eight rebounds, two blocks) since the 90-82 home win over BYU on Jan. 31. Together, the Jayhawks shot just 41% from the floor but forced away 13 different turnovers on Monday.
Self has put a quality roster together, and it’s plainly obvious that Peterson only adds to the depth already on-hand. The roster doesn’t end with him, not by a long shot.
LET’S RETURN TO EARTH ON THIS ISSUE
It was only a matter of time before Self spoke publicly about just how much is out there in regards to Peterson’s health and playing time. And yes, the fact that he’s played appeared in just 13 games, just of six of which for 30 or more minutes, should give anyone pause about his future prospects in the league.
But to paint Peterson’s absences as deliberate, or even conspiratorial, is wholly unfair to a first-year freshman, recruited to Kansas over Ohio State and USC as the country’s top overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class. He’s also carrying a $1.9 million NIL evaluation, and was almost certainly briefed on the kind of scrutiny that kinda cash brings to any public figure, whether a basketball player or otherwise.
So, as Kansas continues its eight-game winning streak with another tall task in Ames this weekend, try to remind yourself that Peterson is a 19-year-old kid from Canton, Ohio, and, no, he’s not trying to fraud the fan base out of their hard-earned money.
It’s almost certain that Peterson will enter the 2026 NBA Draft by the end of this season, so enjoy the team in front of you and quit worrying about “load management,” and the elements outside of our control. If he plays, he plays.
