Kansas Star Darryn Peterson on Criticism: ‘I Don’t Pay Attention to it Anymore’

The narrative around Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson — a potential top-five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft — this season has been negative, centered around him missing time due to injury and checking himself out of games on multiple occasions.

Peterson was asked about the recent criticism of his game.

“[It’s] kind of normal this year. Somebody’s had something to say probably after every game this year, so I don’t really pay attention to it anymore,” Peterson said in a postgame press conference on Monday night after the No. 14 Jayhawks’ 69-56 upset win at home over the No. 5-ranked Houston Cougars when asked about the past week of criticism.

Peterson has missed time this season due to hamstring, quad, ankle and cramping injuries, among other issues, with cramping at the center of the freshman guard removing himself from the team’s Feb. 18 road win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. After the game, Kansas head coach Bill Self called Peterson’s latest hiccup “a concern,” with the college basketball world as a whole continually speculating on the reason behind Peterson removing himself from games.

Peterson finished Monday night with 14 points and four rebounds, while shooting 5 of 14 from the field and 2 of 7 from behind the arc. On the season, he’s averaging 19.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 27.4 minutes per game, while shooting 47.2/40.5/79.5. Peterson has played in 17 of the Jayhawks’ 28 games this season.

Kansas is 21-7 overall and 11-4 in Big 12 play, good for third in the conference. Next up for Peterson and the Jayhawks is a road matchup against the No. 2-ranked Arizona Wildcats on Saturday, followed by a road matchup against the Arizona State Sun Devils on March 3 (9 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app).