Darryn Peterson has long been viewed as one of the top prospects in the 2026 NBA Draft. However, his lone season with the Kansas Jayhawks did not really help him boost his stock.
Peterson was plagued by cramping issues for most of the season with Kansas, leading to questions about his reliability and durability at the next level. However, he claims postseason tests revealed that his use of the supplement creatine was the root cause of his problems.
“I’d never taken it before [going to college],” Peterson told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “But after the season I took two weeks off and they did tests which showed my baseline level was already high. So, they said when I dosed [a process of increasing a dose over time to create maximum benefit at the beginning of taking a supplement], it must’ve made the levels unsafe.”
Peterson said one instance of cramping was so severe that he thought he was going to “die on the training table” and had to be rushed to a hospital via ambulance.
The recurring issues bothered Peterson for much of the season. He missed 11 games and asked out of several more, which did not help his draft stock. Organizations might feel better about him now that he has an answer, though team doctors will no doubt want a look at him as well.
Despite the cramping problems, Peterson averaged 20.2 points in 29.0 minutes per game for Kansas last season. If he can stay on the court, he remains a top-tier draft prospect.
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