Darryn Peterson’s camp breaks silence on controversy surrounding Kansas star

LAWRENCE, Kansas — It’s been 100 minutes since No. 14 Kansas beat No. 5 Houston, 69-56, to notch Bill Self’s 41st consecutive Big Monday dub, and yet, huddled in a chilly dark corner right outside of Allen Fieldhouse’s Gate 12 stands a flock of Jayhawk fans just itching for a sight — or maybe an autograph — from you know who: Darryn Peterson.

Peterson’s days in Lawrence are numbered, so every moment feels fleeting and of utmost importance. Every time he trots to the bench, it’s become standard to wonder if No. 22 is returning or not amid a season chalked full of injuries, criticism and a whole lot of cramps. 

Which made a day like Monday feel … weirdly normal?

Self may have had the Sunday scaries after Saturday’s home hiccup against Cincinnati, but there were no Monday blues. Kansas won on Big Monday as it will perhaps for the rest of time, and Peterson played a full 30 minutes, showcasing nearly the full gamut of what has become The Darryn Peterson Experience (patent pending). Arguably the top prospect in the 2026 NBA Draft abruptly got subbed out after a 96-second shift in the second half. When the dreaded black heating pads were spotted, everyone in the building wondered if it was happening again.

This time, those pesky cramps stayed away, and Peterson got to finish what he started. When Peterson splashed the dagger trey with 3:06 left to put big, bad Houston to bed for good, Kansas’ much-maligned star finally got to experience what he dreamed about. He’s still playing right now for the crowd pops like that one that sent the fieldhouse into a tizzy. 

“It was electric out there today,” a quiet, confident Peterson said. “Part of the reason of coming to Kansas is the environment.”

Peterson describes himself as an “antisocial loner,” perhaps as a shield to deflect the barbs that have been pelted into his front door. He missed seven games with a hamstring injury that lingered for a month, spanning most of November and into early December. He missed romps over Towson and Davidson in mid-December with cramps. He missed a Jan. 24 runaway win over rival Kansas State with an ankle sprain, but the fervor ramped up to a new level when Peterson dominated the first half of his head-to-head matchup with BYU’s AJ Dybantsa on Jan. 31 before exiting early in the second half with cramps. Kansas held on — barely — to win that game, but the microscope was here to stay. When Peterson warmed up for a jiffy but didn’t play against then-No. 1 Arizona on Feb. 9 due to sickness, the boil began in earnest. When cameras caught him asking out of last week’s win over Oklahoma State with cramps, the crockpot exploded.

Peterson’s love for basketball has been cross-examined. Peterson’s been accused of dreaded load management. Peterson’s buy-in for Kansas has been questioned. He’s been given a harsh “DNP” nickname. Hall of Famer Dick Vitale even called it a “soap opera” and pleaded for a divorce between Kansas and Peterson.

It’s just … a lot.

“Someone has something to say after every game this year,” Peterson said. “I don’t really pay attention anymore.”

Peterson’s camp finally broke its silence this week.

“You can’t pray for rain then complain about the mud,” Darryn Peterson’s father, Darryl, told CBS Sports on Monday. “We embrace what comes with this journey. The good and bad. I’m so grateful for this year, this season, and for what’s to come. It has taught so many life lessons to prepare Darryn and our family for what he’s about to go through being the No. 1 pick and future face of someone’s franchise [and] the league.”

Supporting cast coming together

Real stakes for all parties are intertwined in all of this because Kansas believes it has what it takes to scale the mountain if it can just get and stay whole for the next few weeks. Self, unabashedly, loves this team. St. Bonaventure transfer point guard Melvin Council Jr. has become a cult hero in Lawrence. The student section barks when he touches the rock as an ode to Council’s tenacious dawg persona. The 23-year-old has stepped into the role of comedian, pest and emotional leader for this Kansas group. Peterson is the most talented player, and big man Flory Bidunga is one of the elite defensive players in all of college basketbal. 

But Council is the team’s soul, and what he says goes, most of the time, until he brings up a 20-passenger limo that won’t start unless high-level defense is played in Monday’s postgame press conference. Veteran wing Tre White and Peterson could only suppress their laughs for so long at an analogy that didn’t make a ton of sense but somehow struck all the right notes to explain what makes Council tick and why he’s become so beloved in this hoops-loving town.

“Last year’s team wasn’t quite as connected, in my opinion,” Self told CBS Sports. “They liked each other. We just had too many interests last year. Whereas this year, you know, Melvin’s a 23-year-old kid that comes in here, and he’s thinking one thing: ball. Other guys can be a sixth-year senior, and they’re thinking of life after college. There’s just a different thing. Those guys last year liked each other, but it wasn’t the connectivity through the game that really made them like each other, where I think this is much more of that.”

White has emerged as a steady, two-way, high-level producer who drains left-corner treys at a 42% clip now. Council is a jet in the open floor who can really pester opposing lead guards. Bidunga is a freaky defender, who blew up Houston’s actions left and right in what turned out to be the Cougars’ worst offensive showing of the season. Redshirt-freshman Bryson Tiller is not consistent, but man, his good days are very, very potent.

But Peterson is the skeleton key. Even though his top-end burst, power and explosiveness haven’t been on full display, Peterson’s combination of size and shooting is essential for Kansas. Houston’s Kelvin Sampson described him similarly to Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier, who led the Volunteers to the 2025 Elite Eight.

Council will go a step further.

“He’s Batman, that’s all I gotta say,” Council says.

Peterson played 32 cramp-free minutes against Cincinnati and 30 minutes against Houston just two days later. Selection Sunday is impossibly less than three weeks away, and 21-7 Kansas is tracking to be a No. 2 or No. 3 seed, but it needs to be at full strength for more than just two games in a row.

Kansas’ starting five of Council, Peterson, White, Tiller and Bidunga have played 161 minutes together, per CBB Analytics. That’s far behind the eight-ball compared to some of the titans Kansas could face in the NCAA Tournament:

Starting lineup minutes, per CBB Analytics

“Do I know who we are? No,” Self said. “But I still think we got time to figure it out. But it was a big step in the right direction having Darryn out there the vast majority of the time. … I think when in some of those games without Darryn, even though it stunk, it may have been not the worst thing for us because it forced guys to be players as opposed to be contributors. Now we just have to find a blend and a balance.”

The finality in college basketball is unlike any other. It can be over so violently quickly, and there’s more than a puncher’s chance that Peterson will exit college basketball’s spotlight with so much left unsaid. Like, why does he only wear plain black shoes? Or what movies is he obsessed with?

Gate 12’s doors swing open one more time, and a twinge of hope is palpable. 

It wasn’t Peterson, but no one is going home. 

They’re waiting for Batman.