Freshman hoops star Darryn Peterson is special.
The projected No. 1 NBA Draft pick has lived up to the hype thus far with the Kansas Jayhawks, an NBA Draft evaluator told The Star.
As for the rest of this KU men’s basketball squad? Well, the evaluator isn’t quite so high on Peterson’s teammates. The evaluator told The Star that Kansas doesn’t have any other potential first-rounders on the 2025-26 roster.
That said, Bryson Tiller has caught the eyes of some pro hoops insiders. According to the evaluator, Tiller has talent but needs to continue playing well.
And KU big man Flory Bidunga? The evaluator wasn’t overly impressed, describing him as an undersized, non-shooting center whose best attribute is playing hard. The evaluator indicated Bidunga’s stock could improve with a good year playing alongside Peterson.
With that, it’s time for another Kansas Jayhawks Q&A. Thanks, as always, for the questions ...
Watching from afar, so I lack perspective… Is the Peterson injury stuff truly concerning or is it pearl-clutching from those who hate the idea of professional load management sneaking into CBB? @mikvogel
I don’t think it’s particularly concerning. I was informed by a source close to the situation about Peterson’s hamstring injury on Monday, but that person said it wasn’t a significant issue.
Another source confirmed Peterson had dealt with this issue before — and that person, too, downplayed any worries about the injury.
KU coach Bill Self said he was being cautious with Peterson, and that makes complete sense. There was no reason for him to play against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi when there are plenty of games ahead that will matter a lot more in the grand scheme of things.
I understand Jayhawks fans want to see him play, but it’s better for Peterson to miss a game early in the season like this than against Duke or some other better opponent down the line.
Self said Peterson will be out against Princeton, as he’s still feeling some soreness and tightness. He also confirmed Friday that Peterson had dealt with the hamstring issue before Tuesday.
I can’t enjoy the games knowing we will most likely blow it in the final 2 minutes? Does the D change what they are doing at the end of halves, D played great Sat. & then Arizona drives down the field w/ min. Resistance to close out the game? 2nd consecutive year this has happen? @kusteveh
To be honest, I just don’t think the Jayhawks have a great defense overall. Anytime Kansas has played a good quarterback (aside from the Arizona game), the defense has struggled.
When you combine that with the fact that KU often plays prevent defense late in games, you see the Jayhawks being picked apart slowly by good quarterbacks who can methodically move their way down the field without big plays.
Although KU’s defense stood tall for most of the game against Arizona, getting another late-game stop felt like a big ask. This season defense hasn’t shown it can do that, apart from the UCF game.
Based on the first few games of the cbb season it seems than Tiller is far more advanced offensively than flory. When do we start to see the offense played through him as a second option? @lw109824
I’m not sure about a second option, but Bill Self already sees Tiller as his “sixth starter.”
I expect Tiller to play more minutes as the season progresses. He might even challenge veteran Tre White for minutes.
Tiller provides two things the Jayhawks desperately need: rebounding and scoring. So it will be hard to keep him off the court if he keeps it up.
Man, I would understand if his heart isn’t in it anymore and he’s ready to walk away, but while he’s still in charge, what will it take for Lance to Play to Win, not Call Plays to Avoid Losing? Because the latter is proving disastrous and there’s no indication of change coming. @JAndrew_Cochran
Coach Lance Leipold tends to play it safe at times, which is somewhat surprising, considering his offensive coordinator is Jim Zebrowski.
Zebrowski had 17 fourth-down attempts in a game while coaching at Wisconsin-Whitewater.
It’s funny, the Jayhawks started the year playing aggressively and going for it on fourth down. They converted two key fourth-down opportunities vs. Fresno State. Zebrowski talked about how they determine when to go for it on fourth down and how analytics play a significant factor.
It feels like the Jayhawks have moved away from this analytical approach. We can think of multiple times since the Fresno State game that KU probably should’ve gone for it on fourth down instead of punting or settling for a field-goal attempt.
I’m not sure Leipold will ever fully embrace being aggressive late in games. After all, if KU isn’t doing it with Jalon Daniels at quarterback, it’s hard to see them doing so with their next QB.