Kansas lands five-star guard Darryn Peterson, Jayhawks’ first top-five signing since 2016

Five-star combo guard Darryn Peterson committed to Kansas on Friday night, he said The athleteand is the first top-five recruit to sign with the program since Josh Jackson in 2016. Peterson, who plays for Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif., chose Kansas over Kansas State, USC and Ohio State.

Peterson is the highest-rated guard in the Class of 2025 and will be a candidate to replace sixth-year point guard Dajuan Harris, a four-year starter for the Jayhawks. At 6-5, he could end up playing alongside another point guard — be it current sophomore Elmarko Jackson or someone Self is pursuing in the transfer portal next year — but it’s likely Peterson will take one of the starting spots in the will occupy the backcourt in 2025-26.

NEWS: 5⭐️Darryn Peterson (@PetersonDarryn) chose Kansas, he says @TheAthletic

He averaged 28.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 4.6 APG, 4.2 SPG and 3.0 BPG on the 3SSB route @Phenom_United @ProlificPrep pic.twitter.com/ffPMerzevn

— Tobias Bass (@tobias_bass) November 2, 2024

The signing of Peterson marks Kansas’ return to one of the top players on the recruiting trail. This is the second straight cycle that Bill Self has signed a five-star contract – he took Flory Bidunga in the 2024 class – after Kansas went four years out of action as fans were used to seeing this as an NCAA -Investigation to see This resulted in five Level I violations hanging over the program.

The allegations were announced in September 2019 but had been expected since late 2017, when the FBI’s investigation into the college basketball recruiting world became public. The case really began to impact the program in this 2019 class as the possibility of a postseason suspension hung over the program. From 2013 to 2018, KU received at least one five-star in every class (per 247Sports rankings) and averaged two per year. From 2019 to 2023, Kansas received only two five-stars, but both already had ties to the school: Bryce Thompson’s father played for KU, and Gradey Dick is a Kansas native whose brother attended KU.

It’s not that the program collapsed during this time, but transfer rates of high school signees were higher. During that period from 2013 to 2018, Kansas only traded four players, and two of those players (Carlton Bragg Jr. and Silvio De Sousa) had off-field issues. In the four classes from 2019 to 2022, Kansas lost 10 high school signees to the portal. Transfers have become more common in recent years as restrictions have eased, but some of the departures were the result of Kansas pursuing some recruits it wouldn’t have needed in the past.

Peterson will be considered a clear lottery pick, but looking ahead to the 2025-26 season, Kansas should have one of its larger and more athletic rosters in recent years with AJ Storr (6-7), especially on the perimeter. Rylan Griffen (6-5), Rakease Passmore (6-5), Jamari McDowell (6-4) and Jackson (6-3) are all eligible to return.

(Photo: Lori Schmidt / Columbus Dispatch / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)