LAWRENCE
Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson will not play vs. No. 5 UConn, coach Bill Self announced Tuesday morning.
“Darryn is not going to play tonight,” Self said in a statement. “He is very close. He has worked his butt off, but he’s still not 100 percent. He is day-to-day.”
With Peterson missing the game against UConn, it will be his seventh straight missed game due to a hamstring strain. He returned to practice late last week and Self noted he would be reevaluated Tuesday morning.
“He has practiced. He’s gone up and down,” Self said Monday. “The hesitancy I have is that before we announce anything, he has to test out medically from a strength and flexibility standpoint. We’ll know that in the morning. So still no answer, but we’ll be able to say something definitively in the morning.”
In the six games without Peterson, Kansas has a 5-1 record. In fact, KU is currently on a three-game winning streak, winning all three matchups at the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas.
The Jayhawks finished in third place in the tournament and earned an additional $300,000 in NIL compensation.
The last time Peterson played was on Nov. 7 against UNC. The Jayhawks lost, but Peterson dropped 22 points and grabbed three rebounds.
In recent weeks, there was optimism around the KU basketball program that Peterson could be ready to return for this game, but instead his next chance will come on Sunday, Dec. 7, vs. Missouri.
Peterson, the projected No. 1 pick for next year’s NBA Draft, has played just two collegiate games. Even in the preseason, Peterson dealt with what the program called a cramping issue that caused him to miss a game against Fort Hays State and limited his minutes against Louisville.
After KU’s game against Duke on Nov. 18, Self said he believed the cramping and hamstring issues were related.
KU’s game against the Huskies is set for 8 p.m. Tuesday and will be shown on ESPN2.
This story was originally published December 2, 2025 at 12:00 PM.
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Shreyas Laddha
The Kansas City Star
Shreyas Laddha covers KU hoops and football for The Star. He’s a Georgia native and graduated from the University of Georgia.
