Kansas Jayhawks coach Bill Self recently defended his freshman star Darryn Peterson amid the backlash they have faced regarding his health, availability, and conditioning. On Thursday, Feb. 12, Self addressed the press ahead of the Jayhawks’ regular-season game against coach T. J. Otzelberger’s Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday, Feb. 14, on the latter’s home floor, the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
Self was asked about the naysayers and doubters who have called out Peterson for his injury woes, saying that they may be excuses to sit him out of games. Self dismissed all of the claims made online. The tenured tactician pointed out every injury that Peterson has faced and validated all of them.
“You know, I’m not a social media guy, but I have gotten on X and read some of the things and narratives that are out there about him. And it’s really not remotely true. The thing about it is, and when you’re honest, people don’t believe you. And when you tell, then you don’t comment on it. People create their own narratives, and you know what, I do the same thing about things I don’t know about,” Self said.
“Well, it must be this, you know, geez, it has to be that if they’re not gonna talk about it. But here’s, you know, the bottom line. Was his hamstring legit? Hell yes. Would you risk injuring it more in November? No. Was his cramping legit? Yes. Did he turn his ankle bad? Yes…He’s had a string of bad luck. Those narratives are BS,” he continued.
“Bill Self weighs in on the Darryn Peterson narratives 👀Thoughts? ⬇️ (h/t @fieldof68/JayhawkSlant/X),” @tiptonedits on Instagram captioned with emojis.
Currently, Self and the Kansas-based program have an overall record of 19-5 (9-2 Big 12), and are sitting as the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 conference. As previously mentioned, they are up against the Cyclones next in hopes of notching win No. 20. In their last game, they handed the Arizona Wildcats their first loss of the campaign (82-78) without Peterson.
Darryn Peterson Is Still Questionable Against The Iowa State Cyclones
Darryn Peterson sat out his squad’s game against the Arizona Wildcats due to illness, which is different from his previous setbacks that included lower-body injuries.
But, during his media availability, Bill Self detailed that Peterson is gradually getting back into the swing of things, but is not yet at at 100%. With this, it can be deemed that Peterson is still questionable to suit up against the Iowa State Cyclones.
Also Read: Bill Self Admits ‘Hope’ of Darryn Peterson’s Availability Before Controversial Game Even as Kansas Win
Read More: Alleged Chats About Darryn Peterson’s Behavior Taint Bill Self’s Kansas Push
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