Kansas basketball coach Bill Self previews Jayhawks’ opener vs Howard
Check out everything Kansas basketball coach Bill Self had to say Friday ahead of the Jayhawks’ season opener Monday at home against Howard.
LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball has earned its first public commitment of the class of 2025, with Darryn Peterson’s announcement Friday that he’s pledged to the Jayhawks.
Peterson, a 247Sports Composite five-star combo-guard, comes by way of Prolific Prep in California. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 195 pounds, he’s the No. 1 combo-guard in the nation and No. 3 prospect overall. He made his announcement on the 247Sports YouTube channel.
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“I just feel like it aligned perfectly with my academic and athletic goals,” Peterson said during the announcement. “Kansas has a strong history of development and success, which were two huge things for me during this process, were finding somewhere I could go develop as a player and also have success while doing it, and winning. And then, coach (Bill) Self and coach (Kurtis Townsend), they’ve done a great job recruiting me. They’ve been recruiting me since, like, my freshman year. So, the relationship’s been there. And then, he told me how he could use me in the offense and what he’d do to utilize my talents, and what he sees from me, and I’d seen the same stuff he was seeing.”
Peterson made his commitment to Kansas over other potential options that included Kansas State, Ohio State and USC. His pledge provides a jolt of momentum for a Jayhawks program that has a lot of expectations for its 2024-25 season. It’ll be some time before he reports to campus, but when he does he could be preparing to compete for a team that’s enjoyed more than just Big 12 Conference success.
The 2024 recruiting class saw Kansas add a pair of freshmen on this current roster who could both have intriguing roles for the team this season. Flory Bidunga, a five-star coming out of high school, has a lot of potential at forward. Rakease Passmore, a four-star coming out of high school, has a lot of potential at guard.
“Buckets, but just a lot of wins,” said Peterson, as he explained what people should expect when he arrives on campus for the Jayhawks. “I’m going to try my best to get us to a championship and bring it back.”
Peterson, on his last message to KU fans before he gets there, added: “A lot of you guys have already hit me up before the commitment, just trying to encourage me to come there, and I appreciate the support. And expect a show next year in Lawrence. Rock Chalk, Jayhawks.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
