For back-to-back seasons, the Kansas Jayhawks are set to reel in the nation’s No. 1 recruit. In the 2025 class, guard Darryn Peterson was welcomed with open arms, and now small forward Tyran Stokes will do the same, as each crown jewel has one task: get Kansas back to the mountaintop.
Obviously, we know that Peterson and Co. failed to do so in a season that was wire-to-wire, with injury concerns over Peterson and the lack of a dynamic scoring offense as a result.
Now, it is Stokes’ turn to take the mantle, and Kansas fans are hoping for anything but a repeat.
Earlier this week, the Kansas head coach spoke to the media and immediately called the excitement between reeling in the two “comparable.”
“I thought last year we got the best player. This year I thought we got the best player. And I think it definitely would have played out to be that if you would have had Darryn be at full capacity.”
Peterson’s on-and-off injury issues never gave enough time for the starting five to fully sync up, often resulting in stale offensive sets which cost the Jayhawks as the season wore on.
“They’re different. One’s a shooter-scorer; the other one is all-around, do a little bit of everything. But no, we’re all excited for that,” finished Self.
At Kansas, Peterson quickly became the team’s No. 1 scoring outlet and more often than not was solidified as the team’s shooting guard. Yes, there were several points where Peterson would take the ball up the court like a standard point guard, but you would have never called him the team’s primary playmaker, but rather the “shooter-scorer” Self referred to above.
The recruiting battle between the two couldn’t have been any different
While there was heavy speculation in the early periods of Peterson’s recruitment, as time drew closer to his November 1st, 2024 verbal commitment, the Jayhawks stood out as the clear favorites, with 247Sports’ Michael Swain and Travis Branham logging their predictions for Peterson to join KU in early October.
Stokes case, meanwhile, couldn’t have been more flip-flop if it had tried.
Both Kentucky and Kansas fandoms had viable reasons to believe that Stokes was set to commit to their program before announcing his commitment on “NBA Tip-Off,” making it a true spectacle. Stokes’ commitment was largely tabbed as driven by his relationship with Kansas assistant Kurtis Townsend. As Townsend once recruited Stokes’ high school assistant coach, Jamal Crawford, to Michigan.
It will be interesting to see what Stokes turns into under Self and Co. One thing is certain: with the acquisitions of fellow freshman five-star Taylen Kinney, along with four-star freshmen forward/center Davion Adkins, wing Trent Perry and shooting Luke Barnett, there will be a lot more depth to relieve the pressure off of Stokes’ shoulders.
Combine that with the incoming transfers of power forward Keanu Dawes, guard Leroy Blyden Jr. shooting guard/small forward Dennis Parker Jr. and center Christian Reeves, and the Jayhawks should be able to work themselves out of the offensive funk they were in last season, as the Jayhawks ranked as the nation’s No. 161 scoring offense, notching just 75.1 points per game.
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