University of Kansas basketball recruiting

Mere days before its first official action at Allen Fieldhouse during the 2024-25 season, the Kansas men’s basketball team earned a significant commitment for 2025-26.

Darryn Peterson, a 6-foot-5 combo guard who ranks as the consensus No. 3 player in the 2025 recruiting class, announced on a 247Sports livestream Friday night that he will join the Jayhawks next year.

The five-star prospect picked KU over Kansas State, Ohio State and USC, and becomes the first public commitment to the Jayhawks in this recruiting cycle.

Peterson, who is originally from Ohio, played his first two years of high school in Cuyahoga Falls in his home state before transferring to Huntington Prep in West Virginia as a junior. He is set to spend his senior season at Prolific Prep in Napa, California.

An Adidas athlete for name, image and likeness purposes, Peterson played on Adidas’ 3Stripes Select Basketball (3SSB) circuit, where he averaged 28.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 4.2 steals and 3.0 blocks per game.

“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,” writes Adam Finkelstein, 247Sports’ director of scouting, adding that “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.”

On3’s Jamie Shaw called Peterson “a smooth player with the ball in his hands” who can finish at the rim

“The jump shot needs to continue to develop as he is currently a streaky shooter from beyond the arc,” Shaw added. “Peterson creates offense for himself, already at a high rate. There is more growth and upside to go as he tracks as one of the nation’s top prospects in his class.”

Peterson previously told On3 he had been a longtime fan of Kansas and that he appreciated getting to meet head coach Bill Self, as well as the prospect of having a court to practice on inside McCarthy Hall.

Peterson has also represented the United States internationally at the youth level.

KU will lose several of its current guards following the 2024-25 season. David Coit, Dajuan Harris Jr., Zeke Mayo and Shakeel Moore are all in their final season of eligibility.