Not to be outdone by AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson made his case as the best player in the 2026 NBA Draft on Friday. After two dominant preseason debuts from Dybantsa and Boozer, Peterson took his turn to rip a college basketball team to shreds in his first exhibition game. Peterson, who turns 19 in January, shredded Louisville on both ends of the floor.
Peterson previewed what his 2025-26 season might look like, dropping 26 points on 15 shots (76.5% true shooting), four rebounds, two assists and a boatload of steals in just 25 minutes of play. He scored 24 of those 26 points in the first half, lighting up the scoreboard against a Cardinals team projected as a top-12 team in the nation.
Peterson is a special defensive player
While Peterson’s offense will rightfully earn much of the spotlight, his trademark defensive playmaking stole the show against Louisville. He wrecked the game on defense as he’s done throughout the last year or two, flying around to steal passes and dig out handles. Peterson is a special defensive prospect who averaged north of six stocks (steals plus blocks) per game during his final AAU season.
Special athleticism, instincts and physical tools let Peterson play any defensive role and he thrived as an off-ball playmaker against Louisville. Peterson can succeed as a screen chaser, primary rim defender or on-ball stopper, but he’s arguably at his deadliest when unleashed as an off-ball roamer. With Peterson stunting and recovering away from the action, offenses will struggle all season to pass and dribble in his area.
Peterson stunt recover pic.twitter.com/IBmwSR2wOa
— bjpfclips (@bjpfclips) October 27, 2025
The sequence below encapsulates how Peterson owned this game from start to finish on both ends of the floor. Peterson flares to the right and nails a semi-contested three, tracks a cutter and steals an interior pass and then drills an NBA-caliber off-dribble three right in a defender’s face. These three plays, which would appear on the end-season highlight reel for most players, took Peterson around 25 seconds to execute:
darryn peterson drills a semi contested three flaring to his right, steals the interior pass and sinks an NBA range pull-up three in 25 seconds of real time pic.twitter.com/snulnFoCeT
— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) October 26, 2025
His offensive versatility popped
He sank six of his 10 3-point attempts against the Cardinals, attempting and converting NBA-level on and off-ball shots. Shot versatility and 3-point volume are majorly positive indicators for shooting growth and Peterson has those in spades. He’s an elite ball-handler who can rise into pull-up jumpers whenever he wants but can also run off screens and fire off the catch.
If there’s any area Peterson struggled against Louisville, he logged six turnovers, looking a bit rushed and sped up at times. The Cardinals constantly blitzed and trapped Peterson on the ball, resulting in a few turnovers and ill-advised shots. As defenses did throughout his high school career, they’ll sell out to stop Peterson and force others to win on offense, which he must adjust to as he acclimates to the college game.
Peterson trapped TOV pic.twitter.com/l59tFvPVfy
— bjpfclips (@bjpfclips) October 27, 2025
Peterson will face tons of pressure this season
With Louisville forcing others to initiate offense, Peterson flexed his off-ball scoring muscle, something he hasn’t shown much at previous levels because of his weaker teammate quality. Especially on his Phenom United team on the Adidas 3SSB circuit, Peterson dominated the ball and routinely saw traps and double teams for entire games.
We’ve already seen how Peterson can shake himself free away from the ball to hit threes, but he’s plenty comfortable weaponizing his special change of direction and speed to juke off-ball defenders to the rim. With a few capable handlers at Kansas (though not many by great college team standards), we should see some more assisted scoring from Peterson this season.
Peterson cut pic.twitter.com/HHdKmcgcXs
— bjpfclips (@bjpfclips) October 27, 2025
When Peterson initiated offense, he easily knifed into the paint and dished a few lob passes for easy shots as the rim. Peterson wasn’t able to dominate the ball as he’s fully capable against Louisville but that will come this season. For Peterson to dominate like he did in as many ways as he did on offense and defense speaks to the caliber of prospect he is.
