The 2026 edition of March Madness saw another encounter go down to the wire with the St John’s Red Storm edging out the Kansas Jayhawks in the second round of their East Region game with a scoreline of 67-65.
This means that Bill Self’s side is now officially out of contention for any silverware, bowing out of the 2026 campaign a little earlier than what a lot of Jayhawks fans would have expected.
ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg weighed in on Kansas’ season-ending loss to St. John’s while also commenting on the Jayhawks’ star guard Darryn Peterson’s work ethic and his NBA draft prospects.
Greenberg, during the get-up, started off singing praises of Peterson’s all-around hooping ability but admitted that his 21-point, 5-15 performance against a side like St. John’s wasn’t enough.
“He’s an incredible talent. He’s an incredible prospect. Having said that, in that game, on that stage, against that team, I wanted him to go all Darius Acuff Jr. I wanted him to take over the game. 5 of 15 wasn’t efficient”, Greenberg stated (0:17).
A “special talent,” Greenberg then acknowledged that despite Peterson being a prolific shot maker, he just simply wouldn’t work hard enough to get freed up, which is part of the reason why he wouldn’t go for Peterson as his No. 1 draft pick.
“He doesn’t work as hard as he needs to work to get freed up. So, Darryn Peterson, special talent. But in that environment, in that game, a game you must win against St. John’s, you need to take over the game. You need to have a mentality like Acuff had the other night. And I just did not see that. And that is my concern for Peterson. And that’s why I would not take him number one”, he further elaborated (0:41).
Throughout the course of the Kansas-based program’s campaign, one name that has stood out the most is their prodigal guard Darryn Peterson, in both a positive and negative light. While there are no doubts surrounding Peterson’s on-court abilities, considering he holds the best average of all his fellow Kansas teammates and the fact that he’s touted to be a high NBA draft pick soon, his commitment and work ethic are something that have been a point of scrutiny.
How Did Darryn Peterson Fare Throughout The Season?
Having played a total of 24 games for Kansas, Peterson averaged a total of 20.2 points per game, the highest amongst his Jayhawks teammates, whilst also garnering 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
While injuries did hamper some of his game time this season, there were also instances throughout the season where Peterson asked to be subbed out mid-game, tanking his on-court minutes.
While his playing average has gone up significantly as the Jayhawks progressed through the season, a month ago, he averaged a little over 18 minutes during his side’s regular season games, which also affected some of their results, but naturally impacted the team’s postseason seeding.
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