No. 3-ranked basketball player cuts list to KU Jayhawks, Kansas State and two others

Darryn Peterson, the consensus No. 3-ranked high school basketball player in the recruiting class of 2025, has narrowed his college choices to Kansas, Kansas State, Ohio State and USC, ESPN recruiting director Paul Biancardi reported Tuesday.

Peterson, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound senior combo guard out of Prolific Prep in Napa, California, earlier had Kentucky, Louisville, Washington, Arizona State, Alabama, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Mississippi and others on his list of schools.

A native of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Peterson, who attended Huntington Prep in West Virginia a year ago, has already visited KU, USC and Ohio State. In fact, he made the trip to OSU last weekend. He has not yet announced dates for a trip to K-State.

He first visited Lawrence when he was in eighth grade and made an official visit to KU in June.

“Peterson is a prolific scoring guard with playmaking talent. He possesses positional size, power, footwork, and touch,” Biancardi wrote on Tuesday on social media site X.

Peterson averaged 23.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists last year at Huntington Prep. As a sophomore at Cuyahoga High, he averaged 31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.3 assists.

He has the distinction of being the first high school athlete to sign a deal with Adidas. Last November, he signed a multiyear NIL contract with the apparel company.

Peterson played at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy his freshman and soph seasons before moving to Huntington Prep for his junior campaign.

Former NBA player Sam Mitchell, the coach of Phenom United, sees great potential in Peterson.

“He wants to be great,” Mitchell told the Akron Beacon Journal. “I watched this kid play. I played 14 years in the NBA and I couldn’t even scratch the surface at this stage of my life. He plays well above his level. He wants it. He puts the work in.

“He can use his left. He can use his right. He’s got the pullup jumper. He’s got the 3. He’s got the post up. He has everything. In order to have the skillset like that, you have to live in the gym. It has to be basketball first, second and third, and that was Kobe Bryant. Kobe loved the game. He wanted to be the best. I saw that firsthand.”

Of the comparison to NBA legend Bryant, Peterson told the Beacon Journal: “That’s a GOAT. He’s one of the best players ever to touch a basketball. To be compared to him is a great feeling. It’s a blessing, but I know I have big shoes to fill into.”

On3.com’s Jamie Shaw said of Peterson: “He has a basketball player’s frame; long arms with broad shoulders. He is a smooth player with the ball in his hands. Comfortable handling in the half and the full court. Peterson can get downhill and touch the paint where he is a crafty finisher at the rim. He also has the explosion to dunk in traffic. The jump shot needs to continue to develop as he is currently a streaky shooter from beyond the arc. Peterson creates offense for himself, already at a high rate. There is more growth and upside to go as he tracks as one of the nation’s top prospects in his class.”

KU and K-State also are in the running for the country’s consensus No. 1 prospect, AJ Dybantsa, who visited KSU last weekend and will visit KU this weekend. He averaged 22.6 points during the Elite Youth Basketball League.