Last week, the Kansas Jayhawks saw their first-ever No. 2 pick go off the board in Darryn Peterson during the 2026 NBA Draft.
Peterson endured an up-and-down campaign with the Kansas Jayhawks, but overwhelmingly did more than enough to earn a spot that high.
When you look at some of Peterson’s best moments on the court, one of the quickest games that comes to mind is when the No. 14 Jayhawks hosted the No. 13 BYU Cougars inside Allen Fieldhouse.
This matchup saw several scouts and GM’s from the Association lean closer to their TVs to see the inbound spectacle between Peterson and future No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa.
For the first half of that matchup, it was the Darryn Peterson show. Kansas marched into the half with a 53-33 lead, and Peterson was on fire. The freshman guard had notched 18 points on a stellar 6-7 mark from the field, which had included three three-pointers and three steals.
Dybantsa, on the other hand, had produced a steady seven points going 3-6 from the field along with one rebound and one assist.
However, if there was ever a game to perfectly encapsulate the pair’s respective season’s its probably this one.
In the second half, Peterson played just over three minutes, while Dybantsa and Co. slowly chipped away at the KU lead. By the end of the night, taking the most headlines was BYU guard Richie Saunders, who finished with 33 points. Dybantsa finished with 17, going 6-12 from the field but spent 34:19 on the court. While Peterson ended with 18 points on 6-8 from the field but with nearly 14 minutes less on the floor, further adding speculation over Peterson’s ability to stay healthy, despite a KU 90-82 win
Peterson gets the chance for draft night revenge
Going No. 2 overall in the NBA Draft is by no means nothing to be disappointed with, but for Peterson to lose out on the battle against a Big 12 compatriot after what felt like a year-long debate undoubtedly put a chip on his shoulder.
Luckily for the pair. In this year’s NBA Summer League, the pair will face off on July 9th on ESPN. Obviously this will do nothing to change the fact that Dybantsa went No. 1, but it will give pundits, fans and everyone in between a great chance to see how these respective organizations will line up come next season.
Last season Dybantsa finished leading the nation with a stellar 25.5 points per game, to go along with 6.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on a superb 51% field goal rate, across a 35-game season that was ended in the NCAA Tournament first round against the Texas Longhorns in a thrilling 79-71 Texas victory.
Peterson’s stop-and-start campaign eventually finished with the freshman notching 20.2 points per outing, to go along with 4.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.4 steals on a 43.8% field goal rate. Ultimately, Peterson’s season finishes more under a “what if?” subsection, as when Peterson was healthy, there was no doubt about his talent, but the fact that Peterson only played in 24 of Kansas’ 34 games proves no one saw enough of him.
More Kansas Basketball News
Add us as a preferred source on Google