Darryn Peterson may be living it up in the NBA, or at least trying to, but he has not completely forgotten about the place that helped get him there. While it may not have been the smoothest season at Kansas, Peterson is still showing love to the Jayhawks and his former teammates, especially after the huge Kentucky win.
Peterson told Salt Lake Tribune Utah Jazz reporter and former Kansas basketball reporter Shreya Laddha that he did get to catch the end of the Kansas-Kentucky game from the Jazz training room. This came after Utah fell to the Miami Heat, the team's ninth loss in a row.
While Peterson probably was not happy about the loss to Miami, it had to bring him some joy to see not just Kansas succeeding, but his former teammate Tre White having one heck of a game, dropping 20 points on Kentucky.
Darryn Peterson told me that he was watching the end of the Kansas-Kentucky game in the training room.
— Shreyas Laddha (@shre98) November 11, 2026
Pointed out that Tre White dropped 30.
“Big dub, Rock Chalk.”
Things may not have ended the best between Peterson and Kansas, but at the very least, he is clearly pulling for the Jayhawks, and with the way things are going in Utah, maybe he is even wondering if he made the right choice heading to the NBA.
Darryn Peterson is making more money in the NBA but he is not winning a lot with the Utah Jazz
It was expected that when Peterson committed to play at Kansas, he was a one-and-done candidate. Even with all the injury and cramping issues, Peterson chose to leave behind what ended up being a shorter college career and head to the NBA.
Now, with the Utah Jazz, after being their No. 2 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Peterson is just 1-11 this season, and the team is on a 10-game losing streak. Of course, Peterson probably does not actually wish he had stayed at Kansas; he is making more money in the NBA and working with the top professionals in the world of basketball.
However, what if there is a little bit of wonder about whether he would have stayed at Kansas? Imagine Peterson and Tyran Stokes both on the floor, and with the return of Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White, and the addition of Trey Kaufman-Renn, Kansas could look even more unstoppable than they do right now.
Peterson is making more money in the NBA than he would be if he had stayed in college, but things are not all as shiny and pretty as he might have thought they would be.
Peterson has actually struggled to get his game going at the next level, averaging 16.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and just 3.9 assists per game. His shot has gotten better with each game, but he just has not shown that star quality yet.
There is no telling what life would have been like for Peterson had he stayed at Kansas, but at least he is still keeping up with the Jayhawks and cheering them on from Utah.
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