Writer calls out criticism of Kansas guard Darryn Peterson’s availability situation

The 2025-2026 college basketball season has been a roller coaster ride for Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, who quickly gained steam as the No. 1 pick of the 2026 NBA Draft before recurring injury woes squandered his reputation.

With one month remaining in the regular season, Peterson has become one of the most scrutinized players in the country for his constant cramping issues. Critics accuse him of not wanting to play for Kansas anymore, and his status as the consensus No. 1 pick has quickly evaporated.

However, Peterson still has a few staunch defenders, including CBS Sports’ Adam Finkelstein. The analyst is not having any of the controversial discussions, saying that Peterson’s unavailability is solely due to legitimate injuries and not a lack of motivation.

“If Darryn wanted to shut this thing down, he could’ve shut this thing down after the BYU game,” Finkelstein said. “He’d be the No. 1 pick. He outplayed AJ Dybantsa. The cramps came back, he could’ve said, ‘I’m done. I’m gonna take what I’ve shown on tape and I’m gonna roll with that.’ But he keeps trying to play, and that, to me, shows me that this isn’t about, ‘Hey, I’m trying to protect my draft status,’ because he could do that and stop playing. I think he wants to help this team win and there’s some physical limitation going on.

“For people that haven’t watched the games this season, you can go look at the clip of him tapping and saying, ‘Hey, Self, come get me.’ You might think, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s going on?’ But if you pay attention, you can tell when the cramps are coming on because he stops moving, he’s not as explosive, and you can even tell in the jump shots.”

There have been a lot of Darryn Peterson takes in the last few days. Most of the uninformed clickbait.@MSwain247 has covered Kansas all season and joined the show yesterday to talk about what he’s seen.

https://t.co/fA1TOzRSrb pic.twitter.com/d0tH84CJ7j

— Adam Finkelstein (@AdamFinkelstein) February 21, 2026

Kansas’ Darryn Peterson injury controversy

Peterson is arguably the best player in college basketball when he has been on the court, but those moments have been too few and far between for Kansas. The star freshman has only played in 15 of the first 26 games, not including those he left early due to cramping.

Fans have been frustrated with Peterson all season, but the criticism peaked when a clip of him asking Bill Self to be subbed out went viral. Many took Peterson’s body language in the video as him not wanting to play more than any injuries might be bothering him.

Darryn Peterson with 23 points in 18 minutes

But has only played 3 in the second half and comes out after appearing to motion to Bill Self pic.twitter.com/BMZApEdfO0

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 19, 2026

Self continues to shut down rumors at every opportunity, constantly telling reporters how committed Peterson is to winning a national championship.

However, Self has also become visibly frustrated with the season. He has sent multiple public messages to Peterson, urging the 19-year-old to address the issue.

The post Writer calls out criticism of Kansas guard Darryn Peterson’s availability situation appeared first on ClutchPoints.