Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks got their 2025 recruiting class started off with a bang! On Friday night, five-star guard Darryn Peterson announced live on CBS Sports HQ and the 247Sports Youtube channel that he will be playing his college ball for the Jayhawks.
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Ranked No. 3 in the 2015 class, Peterson is a 6-foot-5 combo guard from Ohio who is playing his senior season at Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep. During his conversation with 247Sports, Peterson explained that the opportunity to be coached by Self at a blue blood was simply too much to pass up.
“Our relationship. I feel like we had a spark ,” Peterson said. “I went there for the first time in the eighth grade when I was on a prep school visit. I felt that spark right away and connected with him right then. I’m a big energy guy and the energy was right.”
“His urgency stood out,” Peterson continued. “Him, being a legend, it would be easy to get complacent and relax. He told me that he still wants more and he’s still hungry. He wants more and that’s kind of my motive, too. I have this name and all of this stuff, but I want more.”
Make no mistake about it, Peterson was a massive priority for Self and the Jayhawks. They hosted him hosted in June. Then, they made sure they were present at all of Peterson’s games.
“Every coach, his job is to make you a priority,” Peterson said. “But, how he views me and how I fit his offense is what matters to me. That’s what he did a really good job of explaining. It’s on me to go and take it from there.”
At his core, Peterson is a dominant scorer. He’s quick, athletic, has great length and can buckets off the bounce or via the jump shot. At Kansas, he’s looking forward to having the opportunity to be a playmaker from the moment he arrives on campus.
“He sees me playing that point guard position,” Peterson told us. “He wants me to make plays for myself and others. His pitch was that he wants me to initiate the offense. Then, he wants it to end it with me.”
With his intense recruitment over, Peterson is looking forward to focusing on his high school season and preparing for Kansas. His message to Jayhawks fans is a pretty simple one.
“It feels pretty good to have this over because now I can focus on my senior year and what I need to do,” Peterson said. “To the fans, a lot of you have already been hitting me up and showing me support before the decision. I appreciate that and want you to expect a show next year in Lawrence and Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk.”
