This is a breakout topic from the CBS mock draft.
The 2025 NBA Draft was recently held last June 25 to 26, but a high-level recruit in the college basketball freshman class of 2025 is already making waves. Spitfire guard Darryn Peterson, who wrapped up his senior year of high school hoops at Prolific Prep, is already drawing NBA All-Stars Joel Embiid or Andrew Wiggins kind of hype towards his NBA Draft stock as a potential member of the class of 2026.
In the latest mock of the 2026 draft by Gary Parrish of CBS Sports, Peterson is projected to be selected by coach Will Hardy’s Utah Jazz with the second overall pick in the first round of the draft. This means that he’ll be following AJ Dybantsa, who is expected to go No. 1, a the two have been linked as the clear best two players potentially coming out of their class.
Peterson’s potential as an athletic three-level scorer can help boost the Jazz’s current rebuilding stage. In the current offseason, Utah recently let go of former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson, but selected one-and-done Rutgers Scarlet Knights star Ace Bailey with their fifth pick in the 2025 draft. Should they select Peterson, he can immediately form an uber-athletic wing duo with Bailey.
Along with other key cogs such as Keyonte George, Isaiah Collier, Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler, Peterson can be inserted into a roster wherein he can immediately carve out a role as a primary or secondary wing, which is where he has thrived so far.
Bill Self Says That Recruiting Darryn Peterson To Kansas Was One Of The Program’s Best Recruitments
When Darryn Peterson officially signed to the Kansas Jayhawks for the 2025-26 college basketball season back in November 2024, his new coach in Bill Self, introduced him in a way that speaks about the significance of a player’s stature like Peterson heading to Kansas. Through the official Jayhawks website, Self discussed how important it is that they got Peterson into the program.
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“This is one of the best recruiting moments that Kansas basketball has had in decades. Darryn is an all-around guard that scores at all levels and is also a terrific facilitator and defender. He has been well drilled and has a toughness about him being raised in a family where his brother is a successful football player at Wisconsin. Darryn was as important as any recruit we have recruited in recent memory,” he said.
“Coach (Kurtis) Townsend did a great job as the lead recruiter. Darryn can be a catalyst to also draw other players to our program,” Self added.
Peterson will be joining coach Self’s Jayhawks, which finished with an overall record of 21-13 (11-9, Big 12) and were eliminated in the first round of this year’s NCAA tournament by the Arkansas Razorbacks, 79-72.
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