Kansas recruit Darryn Peterson watches during the first half of the Jayhawks’ home game against West Virginia on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas guard Darryn Peterson continues to pile up honors before even playing a collegiate game, as he was named both the Big 12’s freshman of the year and a unanimous preseason all-conference selection on Thursday morning.

The freshman from Canton, Ohio, battled with BYU’s AJ Dybantsa for the No. 1 spot in national recruiting rankings in the class of 2025, and finished with that mark in both 247Sports and On3’s rankings; he is also a contender to become the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. KU coach Bill Self has called Peterson the best player he’s ever recruited.

Peterson averaged 30.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game during his senior year at Prolific Prep. He now becomes the 10th Jayhawk to earn preseason freshman of the year honors, and the first since Quentin Grimes in 2018.

Freshman Peterson and Dybantsa, both unanimous picks, were joined on the Big 12’s all-conference teams by BYU’s Richie Saunders; Houston’s Emanuel Sharp, Joseph Tugler and Milos Uzan (unanimous); Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey; Kansas State’s P.J. Haggerty; and Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson and JT Toppin (unanimous), who was the preseason player of the year. Tech also had a third player, Washington State transfer LeJuan Watts, earn the title of newcomer of the year.

KU, which recently received a No. 19 national ranking in the AP Top 25, was picked to finish sixth in a poll of Big 12 coaches also released on Thursday. The Jayhawks got beaten out by first-place Houston, which finished as the national runner-up last season and received 14 of a possible 16 votes to repeat as the regular-season conference champion. Second was BYU, third was Texas Tech, fourth was Arizona and fifth was Iowa State, with BYU and Arizona garnering one first-place vote apiece.

After KU in the poll came Baylor, Cincinnati, K-State, TCU, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Utah, UCF, Colorado and Arizona State.

Peterson headlines a revamped KU roster that also features returning sophomore center Flory Bidunga and guards Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell; transfers Melvin Council Jr., Jayden Dawson, Nginyu Ngala and Tre White; and freshmen Corbin Allen, Samis Calderon, Paul Mbiya, Kohl Rosario and Bryson Tiller.