Kansas freshman guard Darryn Peterson recently opened up about the physical and mental battles that derailed his highly anticipated college season following the Jayhawks’ heartbreaking NCAA Tournament exit.
Why Kansas Guard Darryn Peterson Struggled To Stay on the Court This Season
Peterson spoke candidly to reporters after Kansas fell, 67-65, to St. John’s on a Dylan Darling buzzer-beater in the Round of 32 on Sunday. The projected top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft admitted that mental health struggles contributed to his turbulent freshman campaign.
“I was hurt for the majority of it. Not hurt, but there was just some mind stuff. I wasn’t really myself really until the end of the year. I guess whatever people see in these last games is kind of me,” Peterson said.
The 19-year-old missed 11 games during the regular season due to a combination of cramping issues, a pulled hamstring, and various illnesses. His erratic availability frustrated fans and sparked wild conspiracy theories about whether he actually wanted to play for Kansas.
Peterson traced his nightmare season back to a traumatic episode during the team’s boot camp in September. He suffered a severe full-body cramping episode that left him hospitalized and hooked up to IV bags.
“I had like a full-body [cramp], super serious,” Peterson told the Kansas City Star. “You could say it was traumatic. I would say it was a traumatic experience.”
Peterson explained how the intense preseason training caught up to his body before the season even began. He said the previous week they had boot camp where they were just running with no basketball, and it all caught up to him.
“The previous week caught up to me and my body just locked up on me, I guess,” Peterson said.
The mental toll of the cramping uncertainty affected Peterson’s ability to compete freely throughout the season. He admitted the situation was “definitely hard on me and my mental” because he never knew how long he could actually play.
“It was traumatic for me. So much, I tried to fight until it … I kind of couldn’t,” Peterson said. “Your mind is a joystick, my dad tells me. You can’t beat your mind.”
On several occasions, Peterson appeared to manage his own playing time rather than leave decisions to head coach Bill Self. During a February game against Oklahoma State, he signaled to Self to take him out with 17:23 remaining after scoring 23 points.
In addition to all this controversy, there have been some rumors about Peterson as well. A popular NBA personality who goes by the name ‘Cuffs The Legend’ on X has claimed that Peterson has anxiety issues and dislikes flying by plane.
back in February #Sources told me he has anxiety issues and he doesn’t like to fly… and now that the season is over… we have this report today lol https://t.co/70RICl4odk
— 73-9 and THEY LIED (@CuffsTheLegend) March 23, 2026
Obviously, this could just be a well and truly baseless rumor, but an interesting one regardless, considering all that’s going on around the Jayhawks star.
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Despite all the drama, Peterson finished the season averaging 20.2 points on 43.8% shooting while adding 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He remains a projected top-three pick alongside Duke’s Cameron Boozer and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa heading into June’s draft.
When asked if Sunday’s loss was his final game at Kansas, Peterson gave a noncommittal answer. He said he was not sure if it was his last and that he still needed to talk to his family about what the next year holds.
