Bill Self is glad to have Darryn Peterson back. The next step in his game is this
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Peterson practiced full speed after scoring 17 points in 23 minutes vs. Mizzou.
- Self urged Peterson to attack the rim and average six to eight free-throw attempts.
- KU coaches value the depth developed during Peterson’s seven-game absence.
Darryn Peterson, who received treatment on his right leg while seated at the end of the bench after playing just six minutes in the second half of Sunday’s 20-point victory over Missouri, practiced full speed on Tuesday, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self told media members Wednesday morning.
Self spoke at a news conference in advance of Saturday’s nonconference game at North Carolina State. Tipoff is 4:30 p.m. Central at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, with a live telecast on ESPN.
“I haven’t talked to him today. We practice in 30 minutes. But he practiced yesterday. There was no issue yesterday. We took Monday off,” Self said.
The 6-foot-6, 205-pound Peterson scored 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting in the victory at T-Mobile Center. He was 3-of-9 from 3 and 2-of-2 from the line in 23 minutes.
He had missed the previous seven games because of a strained hamstring.
“It was impressive to see him score 17 in 20 minutes. I told him, ‘Thanks for coming back. We missed you,’” senior guard Melvin Council Jr. said Wednesday. “He’s going to be a lot for us. Just seeing him practice every day, seeing him want to be with us, and just the drive that he’s got … he’s going to be fun to watch, just generally.”
Peterson is 9-of-11 from the free throw line in three games played. Self was asked about the need for Peterson to draw fouls and get to the stripe often the remainder of the season.
“I actually think that he does at times in practice,” Self said of getting fouled. “I haven’t seen it in the game yet. He hadn’t been healthy enough to do it and the other day he was sick, so I haven’t seen him get in there and draw fouls and shoot free throws.
“But I do think he’s got to be a six-to-eight-attempt guy a game, and if he does that then we’ll be a lot better off. And he’ll score a lot of points if he’s getting six or eight from the line every game.”
Self noted “the other day (vs .MU) he didn’t feel well at all (flu-like symptoms) and he played 23 minutes, and he got off 14 shots. Let’s just say he plays 30 minutes and he gets off 17 shots and shoots 45% and shoots six free throws. He’s averaging 22. So now, I’m not putting a prediction on it, but the biggest thing he’s got to do (is get to the line) because that’s an element of our offense that if you look at it, last year, we didn’t draw any fouls.”
Self pointed out “if you look at K-State and (PJ) Haggerty, he’s probably as good as there is in America at getting to the free-throw line.”
KSU’s Haggerty has hit 59 of 81 free throws for 72.8%,
“I think Darryn has to find that balance where he can be like that, but still yet be a perimeter shooter and those sorts of things. He’s going to get an opportunity to get fouled because people are going to crowd him, and he’s got to take advantage of that,” Self said.
Self, of course, hopes the Jayhawks will have Peterson available the rest of the season. Still he thinks Peterson’s teammates benefited playing without the McDonald’s All-America point guard for seven games.
“I think it was beneficial,” Self said, “but I don’t know that Kohl (Rosario, 5.3 ppg, 1.8 rebounds a game) benefited from it as much because he needs somebody in the game that can get him open looks. Having those guys out there competing and learning how to grind and make other teams play poorly, that kind of stuff, I think, is very valuable.
“One thing that we did do that we didn’t anticipate doing was move Tre (White) and Bryson (Tiller) and Flory (Bidunga), move them around when they’re all playing together, which we probably wouldn’t have done that if you’ve got DP (Peterson), Melvin (Council Jr.) and one other guy. So we probably found a lineup that we may not have played as much if that didn’t happen.”
Council said the Jayhawks realize Peterson is a special talent.
“We know that Darryn is a star player,” Council said. “We try to talk about it every day, like he’s going to take us so far so we’ve got to help him. We’ve got to do all the little things because Darryn will be the spotlight regardless. We’ve got to follow that lead, and we’ve been doing a great job with that. We trust Darryn, and Darryn trusts us to have his back with everything.”
No. 19 ranked KU will take a 7-3 record into Saturday’s road game. Unranked N.C. State, which plays host to Liberty on Wednesday night, is 6-3.
This story was originally published December 10, 2025 at 12:30 PM.
