Former Prolific Prep point guard and incoming Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson is coming into possibly his one and only season in college with a ton of hype. He started his senior season of high school as the No. 3 overall and ended up challenging AJ Dybantsa for that No. 1 spot, becoming 247Sports’ No. 1 overall and becoming the No. 2 for ESPN and On3.
He also has the internet abuzz, as he has been drawing comparisons with Damian Lillard, especially on Reddit, with many praising his ability to sink threes and also be one of the best defensive guards from the Class of 2025.
One such comment read:
The more I look into it, Darryn peterson feels more like a 6’5 Damian lillard with defensive upside. He shot insane percentages from 3 in high school especially through his 41% on pu3s.
byu/Hakaribiggestfan inNBA_Draft
This has many other fans feeling the hype for the incoming Kansas freshman, who is seen as Kansas’ biggest high school acquisition in years.
“Darryn Peterson is gonna be amazing. I put that on my dead brother Puss 💯,” one fan predicted.
“Dame with great defense is a 1A,” another fan added.
“Kid is special not just cos of his physical tools and talent although those are tremendous too. He has that “it” mentality,” said another person.
However, there were also some fans who have adopted the “wait and see” approach.
“He looks elite in high school but we’re still going to have tk wait and see how it translates to college first then to the NBA,” one redditor pointed out.
“You have to wait and see for the 3 pointer. It’s looking more like Anthony Edwards than lillard to be honest,” another fan said.
“Am I the only one who thinks hes closer to 6’3 barefoot? Hed have to develop into a true pg in that case,” noted another commenter.
ESPN Puts Darryn Peterson Ahead of Rival AJ Dybantsa in New 2026 Mock Draft
Darry Peterson had a stellar senior season in high school, leading Prolific Prep to the semifinals of the Chipotle National Championships and beating AJ Dybantsa’s Utah Prep multiple times. He will continue his rivalry with AJ Dybantsa from high school to college, especially as both of them will be playing in the Big 12 Conference, with Dybantsa going to BYU.
His advantage over the No. 1 Dybantsa was shown during ESPN’s latest 2026 mock draft, where Peterson was selected over the incoming BYU freshman.
Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo did the mock draft and predicted that the Washington Wizard will select Peterson ahead of the more athletic Dybantsa, who was predicted to go No. 2 with the Utah Jazz. Duke’s Cameron Boozer rounded out the top three. with Arizona’s Koa Peat at No. 4.
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