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Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
Darryn Peterson, the top-ranked shooting guard in the 2025 class, came off the board on Friday, announcing his commitment to Kansas.
Peterson becomes the Jayhawks’ highest-ranked commitment since Josh Jackson in 2016 and their highest-ranked guard recruit since Xavier Henry in 2009.
Due to the probation from the 2013 FBI investigation into college basketball — and the cloud that hung over Kansas’ program for several years because of it — the Jayhawks were not as involved with elite recruits as they had been in the years prior. Self’s program wasn’t exactly struggling for talent, but the last top-10 recruit to head to Lawrence before Friday night was Quentin Grimes in 2018. For a blue blood, that’s a pretty long drought.
With Peterson, though, Kansas has a top-three prospect in the senior class and a potential lottery pick coming to town.
What Peterson’s commitment means to Kansas
What Peterson brings to the Jayhawks: Peterson is an elite scorer, one of the best offensive players in the country and someone who is ready to contribute in Lawrence from day one. He has a college-ready frame and uses it to put pressure on defenses off the bounce, getting to the free throw line at an incredibly high rate. He attempted more than eight free throws per game on the Adidas 3SSB circuit, including a three-game stretch in July where he attempted 53 shots from the charity stripe.
Paul Biancardi’s player comparison: Tyreke Evans and Jamal Murray. He has some Tyreke Evans in his game, as a big driver who finds his pocket of space on the floor just about any time he desires. A low-percentage 3-point shooter early in his career who made improvement over time. He has the ability to take over a game like Jamal Murray. Not the shooter at the same stage but all the rest. A high-percentage free throw shooter with a similar build. — Biancardi
What’s next for Kansas: Peterson is Kansas’ first commitment in the 2025 class, but the Jayhawks are far from finished. They’re considered the favorite for top-30 big man Bryson Tiller, who recently took an unofficial visit to Lawrence and cut his list to four schools: Auburn, Georgia Tech, Indiana and Kansas. Two more frontcourt prospects on Kansas’ board are Samis Calderon and Mouhamed Sylla.
What it means for the other contenders
Ohio State: Ohio State made a strong push down the stretch in an attempt to bring Peterson back to his home state for college, but the Buckeyes couldn’t overcome Kansas. How do they bounce back? Well, new head coach Jake Diebler has several good names near the top of his board, including top-five prospect Caleb Wilson and ESPN 100 prospect Davion Hannah. Ohio State was also pursuing Isaiah Denis, who announced his commitment to North Carolina on Saturday.
Kansas State: The Wildcats took a huge swing at Peterson, and Jerome Tang has similarly high-profile targets still on their board in 2025. At the top of the list are A.J. Dybantsa, the best prospect in the country, and Nate Ament, another top-five recruit. We’ll get into Dybantsa a little later, but it’s a big-time — and deep-pocketed — recruitment.
USC: The Trojans still have plenty of options on their board, with eight graduate seniors on their roster and another roster overhaul needed next spring. Among the remaining targets are Jerry Easter, Brayden Burries and J.J. Mandaquit. Like Tang, Eric Musselman has proven adept at recruiting the transfer portal in the spring and is likely to do it again in 2025.
What it means for the 2025 class
Who now has the best recruiting class? Kansas isn’t there yet, although a couple more pieces around Peterson and the Jayhawks could enter the discussion. Right now, there are two programs at the top of the class rankings. Duke has the nation’s top-ranked commit in Cameron Boozer (No. 2 in the ESPN 100), along with his twin brother, five-star point guard Cayden Boozer. The Blue Devils also landed Nikolas Khamenia (No. 35) and inked their fourth top-35 player, Sheldon Henderson, on Saturday. Meanwhile, UConn is the only school with three top-25 commits: Darius Adams (No. 19), Eric Reibe (No. 23) and Braylon Mullins (No. 24). Earlier this week, the Huskies picked up a pledge from Australia native Jacob Furphy.
Who’s still left on the board? Dybantsa, the nation’s best high school basketball prospect, is also the best available player in the class of 2025. And while his father said over the summer that a decision would likely happen in February, there are rumblings that a commitment could be coming sooner than expected. The favorite coming down the stretch is BYU, which jumped into the mix once new head coach Kevin Young took over; the Cougars have since made Dybantsa their top priority — it doesn’t hurt that Dybantsa transferred from Prolific Prep to Utah Prep for his senior season of high school. Alabama, Kansas State and North Carolina are all also in pursuit.