As the Kansas Jayhawks prepare to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Syracuse Orange at the second-annual Players Era Festival, head coach Bill Self had a disappointing injury update on star freshman Darryn Peterson.
Earlier in the week, Self had shared that Peterson was progressing through his recovery after suffering a hamstring injury. However, he also said that the young guard would be re-evaluated at the end of the week.
Well, it's the end of the week, and Self has announced that Peterson will still be stuck on the sidelines as Kansas flies out to Vegas for the invitational.
Kansas is okay without Darryn Peterson active in Vegas
This isn't the end of the world; the Jayhawks kept it close with the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils without Peterson in the lineup, and walloped the Princeton Tigers and the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders just a few days earlier.
However, the star freshman missing in-game action has put more strain and stress on the rest of the team to fill his shoes, something that has already proven to be a big ask.
Before suffering the hamstring injury, Peterson averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block per game over the first two matchups of the year. His scoring numbers still lead the team for the season average, followed by sophomore forward Floy Bidunga, who has averaged just 16.4 points per game.
On Monday, Nov. 24, Kansas faces the Fighting Irish first, in what should be an easy victory for the Jayhawks even without Peterson playing. One day later, the team has to face Syracuse, which could be a much closer game with the freshman riding the bench.
No. 24 Kansas (3-2 overall) and unranked Notre Dame (4-1 overall) are scheduled to tip off at 2:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on TNT.