Self provides update as Peterson battles cramps: ‘We still believe that we’ll get through this’
Men’s Basketball
Kansas guard Darryn Peterson (22) listens during a timeout in the second half on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug
Kansas coach Bill Self has heard about no shortage of home remedies as his star guard Darryn Peterson has battled cramps in his quadriceps muscle.
“People are caring, but everybody has an idea, whether it’s mustard packets or eating bananas, or drinking (something),” Self said. “Pickle juice obviously is a big one. There’s a lot of things that a lot of people think can do it. And sometimes your body just doesn’t react how it reacts to a nephew or uncle in your family.”
Beyond garnering a variety of suggestions from the lay public, of course, the Jayhawks have consulted medical professionals as they look to get Peterson back on the floor swiftly. The highly touted freshman from Canton, Ohio, has averaged 19.8 points per game on 52.8% shooting, but his appearances have been few and far between.
He played the first two games of the year while battling cramps, sat out the next month due to a hamstring strain and returned for two more (he was sick for one of them, the Border War on Dec. 7). Peterson then missed another game on Tuesday night as the Jayhawks beat Towson 73-49 — this time due to the quad cramps, as Self reiterated that he’s no longer dealing with the hamstring issue.
Self said that Peterson had practiced on Monday but “he wasn’t moving like he’s capable of moving by any stretch, much like the N.C. State game, much like the Missouri game, although Missouri I think was more health related than it was legs.”
“His body’s just not reacting,” Self said. “His brain’s telling him to go somewhere and do it at this pace, and his body’s just not reacting to it. We still believe that it’s a day-to-day deal. We still believe that we’ll get through this. But until he can actually move the way that his brain’s programmed his body to move, we’ll probably be very cautious still.”
The next chance for Peterson to return will be for Monday night’s matchup with Davidson, the Jayhawks’ nonconference finale. After that, KU has 12 days before it opens Big 12 play at UCF on Jan. 3.
One key question is if Peterson can play a full game when he inevitably does return. To this point, he hasn’t quite done so. Self remarked after KU’s victory at N.C. State on Saturday, which Peterson had to exit with just over two minutes to go, that he was “happy he got that far.”
In any case, Self said on Tuesday that he’s not yet “worried” but remains “concerned.”
“I’m concerned because this team needs to have an extended period of time together,” Self said. “Because it doesn’t work like, ‘Well he practiced for two days, so he’s ready to go.’ That’s not how it works. He wouldn’t be able to help us that way. We wouldn’t know how to help him and he wouldn’t know how to help others. There’s got to be a rhythm to it.”
Whenever the rest of the Jayhawks do manage to reintegrate themselves with Peterson, it could require a certain level of give and take, “if everybody can fit back in and Darryn can understand that ‘Hey, these guys can make some plays on their own too and I can help them make it,’ and they can understand he’s still our leading scorer, he’s still got to get 15, 17 shots a game.”
On the bright side, Self pointed to Melvin Council Jr.’s recent breakout — 36 points at the Lenovo Center Saturday and an efficient 15 more with solid shooting on Tuesday — as a development that might not necessarily have arisen with a perfectly healthy Peterson in the fold.
“If we can figure (the issue) out, which I think we can, then I think our team will be better in February than we would have been, maybe, if it hadn’t happened,” Self said.
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Written By Henry Greenstein
