Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson struggled with his fitness late last season. The consensus five-star recruit asked to be removed from many games. At the time, head coach Bill Self said Peterson was dealing with cramps.
During a recent interview with ESPN, Peterson said high doses of creatine were a major factor. On the Chris Vernon Show, analyst Gary Parrish said that while Peterson’s cramping issues may have been legitimate, his body language during games left a lot to be desired.
“I believe all that’s true,” he said. “None of this is ever going to explain why you sat on a bench in the second half of games, looking like you have no interest in trying to get back to the game. We’ve all seen what cramping looks like in basketball.”
Parrish said that when players cramp, they’re usually with the trainers “doing things” to get rid of it. However, he claimed that in Peterson’s case, he was seen sitting on the bench, doing nothing.
Parrish also questioned Peterson’s mindset, insinuating that he ducked tougher competition.
Peterson missed Kansas’ 82-78 win over No. 1 Arizona because of illness after initially being expected to suit up.
“Arizona is undefeated, ranked number one in the country, you’re not on this injury report. Your coach thinks you’re playing, an hour before tip-off, you tell him you can’t. Cramping, creatine has got nothing to do with flu-like symptoms that made you think you don’t want to play against the number one team in the country,” Parrish said.
Parrish said that if cramping was the only thing holding him back, then the Kansas staff would’ve been able to get him back on the floor.
Peterson was one of the top-ranked players in the 2025 class. In his first season with the Jayhawks, he established himself as one of the best NBA prospects. For months, the No. 1 overall draft pick at the 2026 NBA Draft was a toss-up between him and AJ Dybantsa.
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