{"id":244511,"date":"2025-10-22T21:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/244511\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T21:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:42:11","slug":"jayhawks-emphasize-testing-peterson-in-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/244511\/","title":{"rendered":"Jayhawks emphasize testing Peterson in practice"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Kansas guard Darryn Peterson (22) floats in for a bucket against Kansas center Paul Mbiya (34) during Late Night in the Phog on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug<\/p>\n


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Kansas City, Mo. \u2014 Kansas coach Bill Self is fond of saying that freshman guard Darryn Peterson is able to see the game in slow motion. It\u2019s an attribute Self usually associates with veteran players, but one that Peterson has cultivated at a young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be 18 and be able to slow the game down like that and be so cerebral and take everything in without being fazed, we try to just push him in practice to make us better,\u201d senior forward Tre White added.<\/p>\n

Indeed, ahead of Peterson\u2019s collegiate debut \u2014 an unofficial one at the KFC Yum! Center against Louisville on Friday at 6:30 p.m., and an official one coming up Nov. 3 at Allen Fieldhouse \u2014 the responsibility for speeding him up, as it were, has fallen exclusively on his teammates over the course of months of offseason practices.<\/p>\n

Peterson\u2019s fellow Jayhawks know that he will have quite a lot to say about how far they go during the 2025-26 season, and they are intent on getting the best version of him possible \u2014 maybe even better than the version that has already made him a top recruit in the 2025 class and a potential No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see everybody around me win,\u201d fifth-year senior guard Melvin Council Jr. said. \u201cAnd I want to see him get to the highest level. And I believe that he should go first pick, because I see the work. I see everything in him. I just want to push him, and I know he got it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pushing Peterson can in some cases mean \u201cfouling or holding and grabbing or trying to get in my head,\u201d as Peterson describes it. It can also entail his teammates teaching him what they\u2019ve learned during their (in some cases quite extensive) college careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what I got to bring to the table with him,\u201d said Council, who also called Peterson his \u201clittle brother,\u201d \u201cbecause he (needs) help, and I\u2019m glad I\u2019m here to teach him the game, because I\u2019ve been in it so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterson has previously told reporters he considers Nginyu Ngala, the 26-year-old Canadian point guard who was KU\u2019s final addition of the offseason, the most irritating defender he\u2019s gone up against. That\u2019s a good sign considering that Self has said Ngala\u2019s primary value to the team will be in helping other players develop during practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like a generational talent,\u201d Ngala said of Peterson. \u201cSometimes at practice it\u2019s unbelievable how much knowledge and feel of the game at an early age \u2014 I\u2019ve never seen that before. So young and just knows how to play, knows how to get the contact. He knows ins and outs of the game that you really don\u2019t see at his age, so it\u2019s pretty impressive. I have never seen that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterson said he understands why his teammates make things hard on him: \u201cIt\u2019s all out of love,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s new for me being in college, so I know there\u2019s certain stuff that they do that they know,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cMy team\u2019s all older guys, so they all are experienced, so they know certain fouls and certain tactics that they can get away with. And I think I got to adjust, and they\u2019re helping me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council said Peterson has done well dealing with the fact that \u201ca lot of bodies go at him\u201d \u2014 something Council believes can help prepare the younger guard for what he\u2019ll have to deal with during the season ahead.<\/p>\n

The Louisville Cardinals will be the first college team outside of Lawrence to see exactly what Peterson is about. They\u2019ll be exposed to what his teammates have witnessed firsthand over the course of a long offseason.<\/p>\n

One thing the Jayhawks have seen is that whatever they might do to make his life difficult, it doesn\u2019t necessarily work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been going very good, but it\u2019s DP,\u201d Council said. \u201cCan\u2019t stop him, you know? It\u2019s DP. He (is) going to get to his spots, make tough shots.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Author<\/p>\n

Written By Henry Greenstein<\/p>\n


\n Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off “California vibes,” whatever that means. <\/p>\n

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