LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — BYU AJ Dybanz And Duke Cameron Boozer set the bar high as the No. 2 and No. 3 prospects from the Class of 2025 dropped more than 30 points in their exhibition debuts this week.
But if anyone is wondering why neither of them completed the cycle as the No. 1 player in the 247Sports recruiting rankings, Darrin Peterson responded on Friday evening. In his first game in a Kansas uniform, the 6-foot-6 freshman guard put on a show as the No. 19 Jayhawks routed No. 11 Louisville 90-82 in a friendly.
The result won't be recorded by either team, and Peterson's 26 points and five steals in 25 minutes won't count in the official stats, but what happened at the KFC Yum! The center will only improve expectations for Peterson and the Jayhawks in the 2025-26 season.
“He played perfect offensively in the first half,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
CBS Sports 2025-26 Preseason Freshman of the Year: Kansas' Darrin Peterson Leads Freshman Team
Gary Parrish
According to Stathead, only seven times since the introduction of the 3-point line has a Kansas player made six or more 3-pointers in a road game against a ranked opponent.
Peterson did it in one inning.
No Kansas player has ever recorded six 3-pointers and five steals in a single game. Peterson did this in his exhibition debut.
On the road. Against a top 15 opponent.
The Canton, Ohio native dropped seven points just over two minutes before the first media timeout and scored 24 points in the first half as the Jayhawks opened a 46-30 lead. The only thing that could slow him down was cramps, which began around halftime when Peterson first showed up in the college game.
“I have to be able to connect the two halves,” Peterson said. “I started out in the heat of the moment and then my body started shutting down. So I'll have to go back to the drawing board. But I'm just glad we won.”
Peterson said his first college basketball experience was “definitely more intense than anything I've been through to date.”
Much of that intensity was dictated by the Jayhawks, who entered the game with a chip on their shoulder.
Kansas' No. 19 ranking in the AP Top 25 is its worst preseason ranking since the 2008-09 season and the first time since the 2011-12 season that the Jayhawks have not ranked in the preseason top 10. After three consecutive opening weekend exits from the NCAA Tournament, Kansas greatness is no longer in the cards.
After winning the 2022 national championship, the program is no longer a regular, elite program. At a time when the Big 12 has gotten tougher at the top, the Jayhawks have played into the hands of the league's fierce defensive competition with their rudderless offense.
Peterson showed on Friday why he could be the answer.
“We’ve been training against each other for months now,” Peterson said. “We were just ready to fight someone else. We were very excited about this game. They put them ahead of us, so we came in as underdogs and won. It was very important for us.”
However, Self eventually saw the game for what it was: an exhibition. Although the outcome was not yet determined, Peterson was finally eliminated with 4:53 remaining after registering just 25 minutes. There may not be any real play this season as he spends less time on the floor.
But even with a relatively limited sample size, Peterson showed more than enough to impress numerous NBA scouts are present. He was 9 of 15 from the floor, and the difficulty level of some of the drills was staggering.
What Self thought of Peterson's performance
As great as Peterson was, Self suggested the game failed to showcase his full repertoire of abilities. Peterson had two assists and five turnovers, belying the fact that he will also be the Jayhawks' primary passer (and distraction) rather than just a scorer.
“He can play without the ball,” Self said. “He can make plays to create offense for others. He didn't do that in the first half tonight because we needed him to score, and that's what he did. He was a little intense there. He's a defender that can see, he can force someone to help and force someone to score on almost every possession.”
Peterson's 6-for-10 mark from 3-point range in a hostile road environment was especially impressive compared to his fellow five-star guard. Mikel Brown Jr.. Louisville's featured freshman struggled, failing to make a shot from the floor until the 13:12 mark of the second half.
Brown The performance of 2 out of 15, although disappointing, is understandable. Turns out, playing in front of 15,885 fans against a top-20 opponent in your first college basketball game is no easy task. This obvious truth made Peterson's performance even more impressive.
Freshman of the Year race will be tight
Boozer's 33 points and 12 rebounds were impressive in Duke's debut. But they came in the 31st minute at home against UKF a team projected to finish at the bottom of the Big 12. Dybanets' 30 points and seven rebounds were impressive, but they came in 32 minutes against Nebraska a team expected to finish in the bottom half of the Big Ten.
First impressions for fantastic freshmen
How the top three recruits in the Class of 2025 performed in their first exhibition games this week.
No. 1 Darrin Peterson, Kansas: Friday in Louisville (W 90-82).
| FG | 3PT FG | electronic warfare | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9-15 | 6-10 | 4 | 26 |
No. 2 AJ Dybantsa, BYU: Oct. 18 vs. Nebraska (L 90-89)
| FG | 3PT FG | electronic warfare | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-19 | 2-4 | 7 | 30 |
#3 Cameron Boozer, Duke: Tue v. UCF (W 96-71)
| FG | 3PT FG | electronic warfare | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12-19 | 4-7 | 12 | 33 |
Peterson's surge came on the road in less time against a team that was expected to compete for the ACC title. He was the No. 1 prospect for a reason, and he backed that up in his first pitching opportunity.
The last Kansas player to make six 3-pointers in a road game against a ranked opponent was Ochai Agbaji in 2022, during the season he was named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player after leading KU to the NCAA Tournament title. It's only October, but the signs were already there that Peterson's Louisville was a force to bring the Jayhawks back into this world.
“He's a special talent,” Louisville coach Pat Kelce said. “He has great size, length and athleticism. Quick burst with the ball, amazing throw. He plays with a lot of bravado. He's really good.”
Hot questions for Darrin Peterson, AJ Dibanza and every five-star freshman in college basketball.
Isaac Trotter
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