Analyst offers honest opinion on 5-star freshman Darryn Peterson's fit in Bill Self's Kansas

Darryn Peterson ended his high school basketball career at Prolific Prep as the No. 2 recruit in the country (according to On3's Industry Rankings). The 6-foot-5 shooting guard signed for Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks.

Analyst James Fletcher, in a video on YouTube on Thursday, discussed Peterson's fit in the Jayhawks, while speaking to On3's basketball analyst Jamie Shaw. The duo also discussed the games of BYU Cougars signee AJ Dybantsa and Duke Blue Devils signee Cameron Boozer.

"What he does is he gets in the pick-and-roll, gets the initial guy on his hip, and then makes the defense make a decision. And oftentimes, creating a foul, getting into the lane, causing a foul," Jamie Shaw said on Peterson. (from 9:17)

"He's had trouble sometimes with the second defender coming up, making the reads out of that. His jump shot gets a little bit flat, um, a lot of times. And he's a high-volume guy. Offense can sometimes stagnate as he dribbles to kind of get to his looks as to where he's going to get to."

He also spoke about Darryn Peterson's production and commended his pick-and-roll ability.

"There's no doubt in the production. I voted for Darryn Peterson to be my high school player of the year, for my Naismith High School Player of the Year this past year." (from 10:16 onwards)

"His production is off the charts, and I feel like he's going to continue that production because Kansas' offense is going to be tailored around his pick-and-roll with him and Flory Bidunga. What an amazing pick-and-roll combination they’re going to have there."

Peterson had plenty of offers from top programs, including Ohio State Buckeyes, Kentucky Wildcats, USC Trojans and Kansas State Wildcats, but the McDonald's All-American Co-MVP signed with Kansas on Nov. 1.

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Darryn Peterson projected to go as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft

ESPN's Jonathan Givony published his way-too-early prediction for the 2026 mock NBA draft on Friday. The mock draft saw Darryn Peterson going as the first pick to the Washington Wizards, followed by AJ Dybantsa to the Utah Jazz and Cameron Boozer to the Brooklyn Nets.

However, Peterson will be focused on his freshman year at Kansas next season. Bill Self has also signed three-star shooting guard Kahl Rosario from Moravian Prep, power forward Samis Calderon from Overtime Elite and an unranked center from France, Paul Mbiya.

He also received a hard commitment from a three-star shooting guard Corbin Allen.