KU’s Darryn Peterson to face No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa in NBA Summer League Thursday
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- Day 1 of Las Vegas Summer League features the Washington Wizards vs. Utah Jazz.
- Darryn Peterson averaged 20.2 points per game his freshman year at Kansas.
- AJ Dybantsa led the NCAA with 25.5 points per game that season.
In all, 76 Las Vegas Summer League games involving all 30 NBA teams will be contested over the next 11 days in UNLV’s Thomas and Mack Center as well as the adjacent Cox Pavilion.
No game will be more hyped — or more scrutinized — than a Day 1 battle between AJ Dybantsa’s Washington Wizards and Darryn Peterson’s Utah Jazz. According to NBA.com, the game is set for an 8 p.m. Central tip at 18,776-seat Thomas and Mack to be shown on ESPN.
Peterson, the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, had one head-to-head matchup against overall No. 1 draft pick Dybantsa in college.
Peterson’s Kansas Jayhawks defeated Dybantsa’s BYU Cougars 90-82 on Jan. 31 at Allen Fieldhouse. Peterson also won a pair of games vs. Dybantsa during their senior seasons at prep school.
“I’m motivated for every game, but obviously that one is going to be a big one,” Peterson told the Deseret News when asked about the Vegas opener. “I think it’s more just Utah versus Washington, but obviously it’s going to be gassed up that way, so I definitely just want to try to help my team win.”
Peterson, a 6-foot-6 combo guard, averaged 20.2 points a game his freshman year at KU. Dybantsa, a 6-9 forward in his one year in Provo, Utah, led the NCAA in scoring at 25.5 points per contest.
Peterson outscored Dybantsa 18 points to 17 in KU’s eight-point win over the Cougars in Lawrence.
That was the game in which Peterson scored 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting with three steals in the first half. Dybantsa countered with just seven points as the Jayhawks rolled to a 53-33 halftime lead. Peterson exited the game for good with 16:46 remaining because of leg cramps. BYU was able to take advantage of his absence, cutting the gap to four during crunch time, but was unable to complete a comeback win.
Dybantsa hit 6 of 12 shots with one rebound and one assist in 34 minutes. Peterson was 6-of-8 shooting with three rebounds, three steals and one assist in 20 minutes.
Back in high school …
Peterson scored 58 points to Dybantsa’s 49 in Prolific Prep’s 88-86 victory over Dybantsa’s Utah Prep squad on Feb. 8, 2025 in Atlanta. Peterson, who also had seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, hit a game-winning 3 with four seconds left.
Peterson also outscored Dybantsa 32-28 in Prolific Prep’s 76-70 victory over Utah Prep on Dec. 14, 2024 in Henderson, Nevada. Peterson had 10 rebounds and eight assists in that game.
“Obviously when we step on the court we are trying to go at each other,” Peterson told ESPN. “So that’s what we always do. I’ve been blessed to come out on top every time.”
Utah Jazz summer team coach Steve Wojciechowski in discussing Thursday’s summer league marquee matchup with the Deseret News said: “As great as certain players are, it’s still a team sport. For all these guys in summer league, this experience is so valuable for their individual journeys. (But) the game of basketball is still a shared experience, so the more you pour into the shared experience, in my judgment, the more your individual abilities come out, and I think Darryn has a pretty good grasp on that.”
Peterson scored 28 points against the Atlanta Hawks and 25 points (with 12 assists) against Memphis in Salt Lake City summer league action Saturday and Monday in Utah. Cameron Boozer, the No. 3 pick in the 2026 draft, scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Grizzlies in his own matchup against Peterson. Dybantsa’s Washington team did not participate in Salt Lake City summer league or the California Classic thus makes his pro debut in Vegas.
Peterson admitted he was fired up competing against Boozer on Monday.
“He was the pick after me, so I know he probably had an agenda today as well,” Peterson told the Deseret News. “I couldn’t let that ride.”
