Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson has opened up on his health issues and why he had to ask to be subbed out during multiple games this season. The 19-year-old also revealed that he had been hospitalized at one point during the season.
Peterson is regarded as one of the top prospects of the 2025 class and was named to the 2025-26 Big 12 All-Freshman Team. He is also considered one of the names in contention to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Darryn Peterson Opens Up on ‘Traumatic’ Health Issues
For large periods of this season, Peterson had to deal with health issues that first surfaced during the program’s training camp in early September. He told “The Kansas City Star” that he suffered from full-body cramps and even had to spend time at the hospital to receive two bags of intravenous fluids.
“The previous week caught up to me and my body just locked up on me, I guess. I had like a full-body (cramp), super serious. You could say it was traumatic. I would say it was a traumatic experience,” Peterson said.
“It was traumatic for me. So much, I tried to fight until it … I kind of couldn’t. Your mind is a joystick, my dad tells me. You can’t beat your mind,” he added, before calling it a “huge factor” in his coming out of games.
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Peterson faced plenty of scrutiny throughout the season, with many speculating and criticizing the possible reasons for his checking out of games during his freshman campaign. When asked about that and not being more open about his health issues earlier in the season, he said:
“There was some foolish stuff being said, but I could have probably did better in probably (getting) in front of it instead of people making stuff up. It’s over now, but don’t nobody say nothing about me finishing games and stuff now, which is funny to me. But I don’t really care. I am just glad I am feeling better.”
The Ohio native later added that he is finally back to 100% fitness, which bodes well ahead of the NCAA Tournament. He has been in fine form for the Jayhawks and scored 24 points in 37 minutes during their Big 12 quarterfinal win over TCU.
Over the 2025-26 season, Peterson has averaged 19.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting 44.2%. He has averaged 28.4 minutes per game and scored 14 points in Kansas’s 69-47 loss to Houston in the Big 12 semifinals on Friday.
