Feeling ‘a little better,’ Darryn Peterson practiced Wednesday, KU coach reveals
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Darryn Peterson practiced Wednesday after missing Monday’s win with flu-like symptoms.
- Coach Bill Self said Peterson played sick against Utah and sat out versus Arizona.
- KU prepares for Saturday’s game at No. 5 Iowa State while monitoring Peterson’s recovery.
Freshman Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson practiced on Wednesday, two days after missing the No. 9-ranked team’s 82-78 home victory over No. 1 Arizona because of flu-like symptoms.
“He feels a little better,” KU coach Bill Self said, revealing on Wednesday’s “Hawk Talk” radio show that Peterson also was under the weather while scoring 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting (1-of-5 from 3-point range) in 34 minutes during Saturday’s 71-59 home victory over Utah.
“He’s not great but he practiced today,” Self said. “So I mean he’s out there. He probably lost a few pounds and some other things, but hopefully he’ll feel better tomorrow and then he’ll feel better on Friday and then be ready to roll on Saturday.”
KU will meet No. 5 Iowa State at noon on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
Self stressed on his radio show that, “Darryn is sick. Darryn was sick against Utah and he played. He wasn’t very effective by his standards at all. But he didn’t feel well. He’s got all the doctors and everybody working with him beginning before the game Saturday. He couldn’t practice Sunday, it (flu-like symptoms) got worse, but adrenaline is going to kick in and he’s going to be able to play (Monday). He said he could (play), and everything, but I was told there’s an even chance that he wasn’t going to probably feel up to doing it.”
Self said on Monday, the day of the Arizona game, that “he did shootaround. He tried. You could tell he didn’t feel well, but he tried. And then he went out there to (do) the warm-up, the stretching, the soft stuff that you do before you actually start warming up. He was out there and everything.”
Thus, less than an hour before tipoff, it looked as if Peterson would play against Arizona.
“Then when I went back in the locker room five minutes before we addressed the team, I said, ‘What do you think?’ And he said, ‘Oh, Coach.’ And the doctor said, ‘No, he can’t. (We’re) not gonna let him go,’’’ Self said.
Self then told the squad about a half hour before tip, before the official layup and shooting drills, that Peterson would not be playing versus the undefeated Wildcats.
“The guys were OK. We just went in there and told them, ‘Hey, it doesn’t matter who we’ve got. Next man up, geez, this is what we do,’’’ Self said. “And they actually bought it, and then they just played lights out.
“Probably helped us win the game ... of course, you’d rather have a healthy Darryn no question, but if he can’t move, and if he’s sick, and you try to piece it together, where (you are saying), ‘How can we get 20 minutes out of him and try to cater to him?’ And he can’t really get open and try to get him shots, it takes away from the other stuff too. So yes it worked out OK. Certainly we’d much rather have him than not, but the fact of the matter (is) there was no way he could have gone the other night.”
Self also addressed his own “injury” of sorts sustained during Monday’s game. He needed to place a bandage on his earlobe during the second half to stop his ear from bleeding.
“Monday night was pretty good,” Self said on “Hawk Talk,” “except I had a problem with my ear. Other than that it was good. My ear kept bleeding of all things.”
Asked what happened to cause the bleeding, he said: “I don’t know. I thought I was going to bleed out there for a while. I couldn’t stop it. Other than that (the game) was fine.”
