Ahead of Friday’s deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2026 NBA draft, Kansas star Darryn Peterson has formally announced that he’ll put his name in this year’s draft pool (Instagram link).
While Peterson is no longer widely viewed as a frontrunner to be selected first overall this June, he remains a strong candidate to be one of the first players off the board. The 6’6″ guard averaged 20.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.4 steals in 29.0 minutes per game as a freshman for the Jayhawks in 2025/26, posting a .438/.382/.826 shooting line and earning a spot on the All-Big 12 second team.
Health issues, including hamstring and ankle injuries and severe full-body cramping, limited Peterson to 24 games during his first and only college season, which was a major reason why he wasn’t able to cement himself as the top prospect in this year’s class. The 19-year-old has also faced some questions about his competitiveness, according to Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 (Twitter link), and didn’t display much play-making for a lead guard during his freshman year.
Still, Peterson is the No. 2 prospect on ESPN’s big board and also went second overall in the most recent mock draft from Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Jeremy Woo of ESPN refers to him as the “most gifted scorer and shot-maker” in the 2026 draft class, and both Woo and Wasserman suggest there’s reason to believe he has more upside as an on-ball creator and passer than he got a chance to show with Kansas.
The pre-draft process will be important for Peterson, Woo notes, since teams will get a chance to look at his medicals and talk to him about the health issues he battled at Kansas.
James Wiseman potential.
Except for being a lot shorter, a better shot maker and creator, more polished, able to score from all three levels, better handles and playing a totally different position.