Darryn Peterson, a five-star In the 2025 class, was in Lawrence on Monday and Tuesday as Kansas prepared for the matchup with West Virginia, an eventual 62-61 loss in the Jayhawks’ Big 12 opener at Allen Fieldhouse.
Prior to the game, coach Bill Self spoke with the media and didn’t hold back with his praise for his incoming five-star guard, who has already signed with Kansas and will enroll this summer ahead of next season.
“To me, Darryn’s the best player we’ve recruited since we’ve been here,” Self said. “When you talk about a player and a combination of a player and a prospect, I think that’s without question. He’s a special talent.”
Peterson is ranked No. 3 overall In the 2025 class right behind BYU pledge A.J. Dybantsa and Duke signee Cameron Boozer.
Self is not one to throw around praise casually, but that effusive of a compliment, and the expectations that go along with it, does require a deeper dive, especially when players like Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins have suited up for the Jayhawks in recent years.
To be fair, Self did acknowledge both, as well as Josh Jackson in his comments.
“You could say Andrew Wiggins. You could say Joel Embiid, even though Joel was a prospect more than a player at that time. And there’s one other name that comes to mind, that’s Josh Jackson.”
Embiid has gone on to be an NBA MVP, two-time NBA scoring champion, and a 7x NBA All-Star, all before his 30th birthday. But when he initially committed to Kansas, he wasn’t considered a sure thing.
Embiid finished as the No. 13 ranked prospect in the national class of 2013, but even that came after a significant late charge. He played JV as a junior in high school, came off the bench during the summer, and was viewed by many as a high-risk high-reward type prospect. In fact, many people thought that Kansas and Texas, the other school he strongly considered, might be reaching by pursuing him. It wasn’t until a starring performance in the Jordan Brand Classic, a post-season all-star game in his senior year, that Embiid shot up the national rankings.
So it is fair to say that Peterson has accomplished more to date and is a higher profile recruit than Embiid was at this same stage, but to say he has the same long-term upside would be ambitious right now.
The comparison gets inverted when it comes to Wiggins. He was the most decorated high school recruit in the 2013 class. The Canadian, who played his high school ball at Huntington Prep in West Virginia, finished ranked No. 1 overall In 2013 after returning to his original graduating class following a brief reclassification to 2014.
Wiggins is still the only No. 1 overall prospect to ever commit to the Jayhawks. His televised commitment was a national event. He was on a short list of most-hyped prospects since LeBron James.
Now in his 11th NBA season, Wiggins won the Rookie of the Year award in 2015, was picked for the All-Star game in 2022, and went on to win an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors that year. As great as that is, expectations were higher for Wiggins based on his high school reputation and given his athletic upside, wing size, and scoring instincts.
While Peterson may be just slightly less celebrated a recruit than Wiggins at the same stage, he does have the ability to have a long and successful NBA career if he keeps trending along the same trajectory and doesn’t get derailed by any unexpected variables.
MORE: Scouting No. 3-ranked Darryn Peterson and his fit at Kansas
Self’s comments about Peterson aren’t crazy. It’s common for college coaches to praise signees and prospects after they sign and before they step on campus and play a minute of basketball. Where Peterson is now as a prospect may be just slightly behind where Wiggins was perceived at a similar stage. And it wouldn’t be fair to expect or project any 18-year-old to match the level of NBA stardom that Embiid has achieved thus far.
But where Self can at least make a case is in the combination of Peterson’s current reputation combined with future upside, which is ultimately what the Hall of Fame coach was referring to when he said “combination of a player and a prospect.”
Peterson is farther along at this stage than Embiid was and could very well exceed what Wiggins has done in his professional career when it’s all said and done.
One thing is for certain though, comments like this from Self on Peterson certainly prompt comparisons to some of the best to ever do it in a KU uniform. Peterson could very well be arriving in Lawrence with the biggest expectations of any freshmen that Self has ever recruited to Kansas.
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