How KU basketball landed a commitment from ‘Bucket Jones,’ top 2025 shooting guard
Consensus No. 3-ranked high school senior basketball prospect Darryn Peterson sat next to 247Sports recruiting guru Eric Bossi behind a table Friday night at Prolific Prep School in Napa, California.
In front of the duo, resting on the table within easy reach for Peterson, were caps from the blue-chipper’s four college finalists: USC, Ohio State, Kansas State and Kansas.
Looking on right behind Bossi and Peterson were the prep phenom’s mom, dad, brother and sister, who applauded enthusiastically as Darryn announced for coach Bill Self’s KU Jayhawks for his expected one-and-done season of college basketball.
“I’ll be taking my talents to the University of Kansas. Go Jayhawks,” 6-foot-5 combo guard Peterson said seconds after taking a sip of bottled water, then putting the KU hat on his head, KU T-shirts immediately distributed to Darryn and his immediate family members.
The Canton, Ohio native explained why he chose the Jayhawks over in-state school Ohio State and other programs.
“I just feel it aligned perfectly with my academic and athletic goals,” Peterson told Bossi in a ceremony shown live on 247Sports’ YouTube channel and at CBS Sports HQ.
“Kansas has a strong history of development and success which were huge things for me during this process. It’s somewhere I can go develop as a player and have success while doing it and winning. Coach (Bill) Self and coach KT (Kurtis Townsend), they’ve done a great job recruiting me. They’ve been recruiting me since my freshman year,” Peterson added.
“The relationship has been there. He (Self) tells me how he’ll use me in the offense and utilize my talents and what he sees from me. I saw the same things he’s seeing so … (he picked KU),” he continued, his voice trailing off.
Asked what KU fans should expect, Peterson said: “’Bucket Jones.’ Buckets. Just a lot of wins. I’m going to try my best to get us a championship, (to) bring it back.”
“Bucket Jones” is Peterson’s nickname, given to him by his dad, Darryl, many years ago. Darryn, in fact, signed the banner draped behind the signing-night table with that nickname instead of Darryn Peterson. The logo of his AAU team, Phenom United of North Canton, Ohio, was also prominently emblazoned on the banner.
“I transfer into a different person, I’d like to say, in between the lines,” Peterson said of transforming into “Bucket Jones.”
“I feel (on the court) I’m no longer DP, Darryn Peterson, I’m ‘Bucket Jones’ now. My dad made that up at a young age. I always wanted to get buckets. Jones is like Jones-ing for something, like an addiction. I always said I had an addiction to buckets growing up.
“Now I’m more mature. I’m more about winning now,” Peterson continued, “doing whatever it takes to win. That’s where we got ‘Bucket Jones’ from.”
Peterson visited each of his finalists before choosing a school.
“There was an Ohio State buzz the last 24 to 48 hours,” said Adam Finkelstein of 247Sports. “Kansas had been the expectation for months. He is from the state of Ohio. There was significant talk the Buckeyes were still in it even as recently as this afternoon.
“KU is losing its point guard in Dajuan Harris. They needed to fill that position in the biggest way possible. If you could get one guard this is the one you wanted. He can play on ball, off ball. He’s a perfect building block for what they can do next year in Lawrence,” Finkelstein added.
Peterson last spring and summer played on Adidas’ 3Stripes Select Basketball (3SSB) circuit. He averaged 28.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 4.2 steals and 3.0 blocks per game.
Of his decision, he told 247Sports: “Our relationship (with Self and Townsend), I feel like we had a spark. I went there for the first time in the eighth grade when I was on a prep school visit. I felt that spark right away and connected with him right then. I’m a big energy guy and the energy was right. His urgency stood out,” Peterson added of Self. “Him, being a legend, it would be easy to get complacent and relax. He told me that he still wants more and he’s still hungry. He wants more and that’s kind of my motive, too. I have this name and all of this stuff, but I want more.”
Peterson added to 247Sports that Self “sees me playing that point guard position. He wants me to make plays for myself and others. His pitch was that he wants me to initiate the offense. Then, he wants it to end it with me.”
Here’s Finkelstein’s scouting report on Peterson: “Peterson is a big guard with good positional size, length, and strength. He’s 6-foot-5, with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, and a cut-up and defined frame. What differentiates him most though is an effortless ability to score and make plays from a variety of spots on the floor, all within the flow of the game.
“Peterson is extremely versatile. He’s a true combo guard who is equally effective playing on or off the ball. He has natural poise as a handler with now only rare moments when he can be rattled by pressure from smaller guards. He’s also a true multi-level scorer who can simultaneously see the floor, make reads, and pass well. He has a very smooth pull-up game, can overpower most opposing guards off the dribble, take smaller defenders into the post, and also thrive in ball-screens. His understanding of how to get to his spots is second to none and that’s why he’s such an efficient scorer, even in high volume, especially inside the arc. He also has good natural instincts and has already developed an NBA caliber intellect when it comes to drawing fouls and getting easy points at the free-throw line.
“While he was nearly a 90% shooter at the free-throw line, he was just under 31% from behind the arc. He has a mechanically clean and projectable stroke, but is still working to become a more consistent 3-point shooter, particularly off the catch. He’s a good athlete, but doesn’t necessarily have overwhelming or dynamic pop when attempting to separate or explode at the rim. He plays with a ton of on-ball volume right now, and will inevitably have to learn to play less with the ball in his hands at the next level, even as a primary playmaker.
“Peterson is a solid and competitive on-ball defender with very good playmaking metrics off the ball as well. He is also an elite perimeter rebounder with the size, strength, and length to eventually be a multi-positional defender.
“Overall, there’s just not another guard in the country right now who can match Peterson’s combination of size, length, strength, real functional versatility, and effortless ability to get to his spots that can make the game look easy at times.”
This story was originally published November 2, 2024 at 7:30 AM.
