One of the biggest talking points in collegiate basketball this season has been the availability of star guard Darryn Peterson.
Since No. 9 Kansas’ first exhibition against Louisville in October, Peterson has been struggling with numerous issues, including cramps, hamstring tightness, a sprained ankle, and, most recently, “flu-like symptoms”, which kept him out of the Jayhawks’ historic 90-82 win over the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats this past Monday.
Head coach Bill Self spent the large part of his Thursday press conference dispelling rumors around Peterson.
”The thing about it is, when you're honest, people don't believe you. Then 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, it has to be that if they're not gonna talk about it,’” quoted Self.
Peterson is “good to go”
Minutes ago, ESPN insider Pete Thamel revealed that Peterson was “good to go” and “will definitely start.”
Kansas star Darryn Peterson is "good to go" for the game at No. 5 Iowa State on Saturday, per Bill Self. He will definitely start, per Self. He missed the game against No. 1 Arizona with flu-like symptoms, his 11th missed game of the year. pic.twitter.com/RdXbG4X4Tz
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 13, 2026
Saturday afternoon will mark the second time this season that the Jayhawks will be taking on the Cyclones, where their first matchup ended in an 84-63 blowout of the then-No. 2 Cyclones in mid-January.
Since then, Kansas has gone on to topple another seven wins, with three of them against teams ranked in the AP Top-13 (No. 13 BYU, No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 1 Arizona).
Peterson notched 16 points on a 6-15 mark from the field, with five rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one block to follow suit when the teams last squared off.
By no means was it a banner day for the former No. 1 overall player, but it didn’t have to be as Peterson was one of four players to notch 10+ points on a team that shot 51% from the field, and a dazzling 50% from beyond the arc, cashing in 12 three-pointers.
Tipoff is set for Saturday at 12 p.m. CT with streaming available on ABC.
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