LAWRENCE, Kan. — There’s been a lot of discussion this season about whether Darryn Peterson really cares about Kansas. The thinking goes something like this: Is it just a pit stop on his way to the NBA? A proving ground to show enough to cement his status as the No. 1 pick in June?
Peterson has had plenty of reasons to miss time — cramps, hamstring strain, ankle sprain, flu-like symptoms — but what’s made some question his motivation is how he’s seemed to be just fine for the first half of multiple games before asking to come out and never returning for the second half.
Almost like…
Got 20 points? Point proven. That’s enough. I’m out.
The talking heads and the fans have just been waiting for something from Peterson to show he cares about more than just his NBA Draft stock.
That arrived late on Monday night, following a 69-56 win over No. 5 Houston, when Peterson stood up from the podium inside the Allen Fieldhouse media room and asked a question. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson had earlier said “Kansas is one of those teams that you just never know, but they’re pretty good,” and the KU players got asked what they thought of that. Peterson didn’t really follow the initial question during the press conference.
“What do you mean by Kansas ‘never know’?” Peterson asked once the presser ended. “What’s that mean?”
That’s what Sampson said, Peterson was told, that you just never know with these Jayhawks.
“Dang,” Peterson said. “I don’t like that.”
Could it be that Peterson actually cares about his team? Has some pride? Wants to make an impact on this place? Would he care about what another coach said about his team if he didn’t?
Much of the discussion around what drives Peterson has been uninformed. That is hot take television, where someone can see a picture or a video clip and think they know what motivates him. It usually comes from people who haven’t closely followed along and see an opportunity to get aggregated and retweeted and come across as the expert.
If all Peterson cared about was his draft stock, he would have already shut it down for the year and headed to Phoenix to work with his NBA trainer, Phil Beckner. He has proven enough to be the No. 1 pick, so long as his medical reports do not raise any red flags during the draft process.
Instead of bailing on his team, Peterson logs onto a Zoom with Beckner the night before every game to go over how the other team is going to guard him, and lately, he’s done so while hooked up to an IV to receive fluids to make sure he doesn’t cramp the next day.
This side of Peterson has been shielded from many because he hasn’t often been made available this year to tell his story or talk about what he’s been through. Letting everyone in could engender some empathy for what he’s endured.
Kansas coach Bill Self has tried to defend Peterson for most of the season, but he delivered a message last week that he knew was really the only way to silence the doubters.
“Play,” Self said. “Finish.”
Peterson has since done that in back-to-back games. He wasn’t his best on Saturday in a loss to Cincinnati, when he played 32 minutes and looked like he was dragging. And he was just OK in Monday’s win against the Cougars: 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting, four rebounds, an assist and two turnovers. But something was different.
Self wasn’t trying to manage Peterson’s minutes. He wasn’t the first sub out and he played the first 9:24 before heading to the bench with his second foul.
The way Peterson was used was also telling. He has played mostly off the ball lately, almost as if to limit the wear and tear on his body. But ideally, Peterson would play more point guard because he has the best vision on the team and is probably its best passer despite the fact he has only five assists in the last seven games. He’s mostly played the role of finisher. But on Monday night, Peterson played more point guard because Self knew he was the best equipped to handle Houston’s ball screen traps.
Peterson doesn’t have to be a superstar every night for the Jayhawks. Sometimes they need him to play a role beyond “just score.” And on Monday, it was to imitate actions to get the offense going.
On Saturday, the Jayhawks looked like puzzle pieces scattered on a table. There was no cohesion to the offense, just role confusion. In the second half against the Cougars, the others seemed to find their place again. Melvin Council Jr. was flying in transition. Tre White, who scored a season-high 23 points, hit corner 3s and made timely cuts. Flory Bidunga didn’t have a great offensive game (only four points) but was the best defender on the floor. And Bryson Tiller picked his spots to attack in the mid-range.
The glass-half-full perspective on Peterson’s missed time is that it allowed everyone else around him to gain confidence. This team could be more than just the Peterson show.
“It forced guys to be players as opposed to be contributors,” Self said. “Now we just got to find a blend and a balance that we can do a little bit of everything.”
What the Jayhawks have needed is time and normalcy. They need Peterson around and available daily. Self said recently that he hasn’t really gotten the chance to coach Peterson yet. “I’m talking about day to day,” Self said, “on the court, where you can actually worry about the details that go into winning more so than the meat, potatoes of just being out there.”
Those details were present against the Cougars, when KU’s defense once again looked like one of the best in the country, with a plan to take away the Houston guards and not let them have any looks.
For most of the night, the Jayhawks were flawless in forcing Houston’s guards into hard shots and keeping star freshman Kingston Flemings from getting into the paint or hitting his patented pull-up jumper.
But midway through the second half, Peterson allowed Flemings to get to easily to his spot and knock one down from the mid-range before answering on the other end with a dribble hand-off 3-pointer right in from of the Kansas bench. As Peterson backpedaled to the other end, Self screamed a message at him: “Guard!”
Bill Self was able to coach Darryn Peterson up during Kansas’ win over Houston. (Ed Zurga / Getty Images)
“He was good tonight, and he stretches the floor and does different things, allows other people to have space and stuff like that,” Self said. “But the one thing about it is I still think that he can be a much better defender.”
That moment had to be refreshing for a Self, an actual chance to get a message across to his freshman. A chance to coach him. Peterson has the chance to take that challenge and grow, as well as the chance to be able to play and finish.
And while criticism and attention comes with being as gifted as Peterson is — along with the fact that players like Peterson are now making seven figures to play college basketball — hopefully those who have talked the loudest listen to what Peterson said when he was asked how he’s dealt with what’s been said lately.
“Kind of normal this year,” he said. “Somebody’s had something to say probably after every game this year, so I don’t really pay attention to it anymore.”
How does he pull that off?
“I’ve kind of been an antisocial loner my whole life,” he said, “so I kind of deal with it on my own.”
That’s a lot for a 19-year-old. And hopefully not completely true. Hopefully he does have people in his corner who are helping him navigate all of this.
And hopefully on Tuesday, a few folks who have criticized Peterson will see that clip and find out how he’s wired.
Peterson might not care what you say about him, but he does care what you say about his team.