Over the last two seasons, the Jayhawks' play has fallen below expectations, and it is not a harsh thing to say that. In an era that is dominated by a team's ability to recruit in the portal, there is going to be a lot of pressure to find the short-term success the portal offers, and that is where Kansas has maybe fallen below the mark. Houston has snagged the crown at the top of the Big 12, with back-to-back Big 12 regular-season titles in its first two seasons. Leaving Kansas on the back foot. Yet the Jayhawks have made it no secret who their future is reliant on, 247Sports No.1 player in the nation, Darryn Peterson.
The 6-foot-5 Peterson weighs in at 195 pounds and already has Kansas fans excited after how coach Bill Self profiled the freshman.
"He's ultra talented." Marked Self. "You know, the thing about Darryn is we gotta have a team...That understands where the talent is and [ensure] we can play to his talent. He's also got to learn how to raise the level of other people's talent around him. He's gifted, I mean, there's. No denying that. He's gifted, with the ball in his hands."
CBS Sports published a long-form piece detailing 101 different storylines last week, and with Peterson's expectations of hitting the NBA Draft after one season, Isaac Trotter debated where Peterson could land.
"Peterson will be one of the top lead guards in the country. Boozer is slated to be one of the elite power forwards in college basketball, and then there's BYU's AJ Dybantsa, who could be the best wing in the country.
"The top of this freshman class is all the way legit.
"Peterson, Boozer or Dybantsa are all firmly in the mix to be the No. 1 pick in next summer's 2026 NBA Draft, and the jostling between three premier prospects will be a firm subplot throughout the 2025-26 campaign."
Cameron Boozer, son of former NBA player Carlos Boozer, and his brother Cayden will both be joining the Duke Blue Devils. Boozer (Cam) is currently tallied as the 3rd-best player in the country by 247Sports and is only topped by AJ Dybansta and Peterson.
Dybansta is a lengthy 6-foot-9 small forward with a smooth pull-up jumper who is committed to Brigham Young University.
All of these elite prospects reaffirm Trotter's point asserting that this freshman class is elite.
Earlier today, Pro Football Network's mock draft saw Peterson land 3rd to the Brooklyn Nets, but we are still months from seeing either of these three take the college court for the first time.