The Kansas locker room has seen a fair bit of drama with the Darryn Peterson situation. Whether he plays or not is starting to feel like a toss-up. On nights he’s available, everything clicks. When he’s not, frustration quickly follows. That uncertainty is the balancing act Bill Self keeps dealing with at the Kansas Jayhawks.

It all came into focus recently when Self sat down with Hoops HQ and explained what led to Darryn Peterson missing the game against the Arizona Wildcats. This gave fans a rare, honest glimpse into a situation that’s becoming trickier to predict by the week.

“Where we s*** up as a staff was allowing him, he didn’t go up for warm-ups. He went out to see how he felt in the pre-warm-ups when we just do our stretching and whatnot, and people saw him do that. I wish we had done that in the practice gym as opposed to publicly, but he didn’t at that time. He went out there with the intention I’m going to do it.”

“Came back in when obviously he didn’t feel well, his head was pounding, and all that stuff. And the doctor told me. Bill, no, he’s not going to be able to go. That was after he came back in prior to the team going out for warm-up,” said Bill Self, recounting the incident.

Self’s realization comes from the fact that allowing Darryn Peterson to practice in public sent the wrong message when he was already under the weather. The flu symptoms didn’t let him recover easily, and the doctors, too, had no other choice but to pull the plug on the decision of allowing him to play.

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Darryn has had it quite rough this season as he has always found himself on the wrong side of injuries. Hamstring cramps, quad and ankle problems, and now an annoying flu have plagued him throughout the season, keeping him out of many games. Darryn has played in just 14 games out of the 25 games played this year, and that tells you how much the team has missed his services.

Thankfully, that absence did not cost the team much, as Flory Bidunga (23 pts, 10 rebounds) and Melvin Council Jr (6 assists) had monstrous games. Peterson’s return game against Iowa, however, was the worst one of his entire season. Up until that disastrous Iowa game, the lowest points he made in a game were 14, which uncharacteristically dropped down to 10.

So now the question remains: How will Darryn Peterson perform in the season going ahead?

Darryn Peterson’s ‘Awkward’ Game Against Oklahoma

Freshman star Darryn Peterson was the driving force behind No. 8 Kansas’ strong performance as the Jayhawks secured an 81‑69 road win over Oklahoma State in a Big 12 Conference matchup on Wednesday night in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Peterson scored 23 points, and the majority of those (20 pts) came in the first half, which helped Kansas establish a healthy lead. He was immaculate on the field, scoring 7 of 12 field goals, and boosted his scoring with 6 three pointers as the Jayhawks mounted the attack on Oklahoma.

But even after the heroics on court that secured his side the win (81-69), the game will be remembered for other reasons. Most notably, the way Darryn chose to be subbed off during the second quarter as he gestured to coach Bill Self to take him off the court within three minutes in the second half.

Darryn’s decision to leave the game midway like that against Oklahoma came as a massive surprise, which shocked everyone present, as many thought the star freshman would be good to go for the entire game, but that was not to be.

Other than Peterson, Tre White (16 pts), Elmarko Jackson (14 pts), Bryson Tiller with his double-double (10 pts, 11 rebounds), and Flory Bidunga (8 pts and 11 rebounds) all came in to shoulder the burden alongside Peterson.

Naturally, Bill Self’s team controlled the tempo of the game after jumping to a heavy lead in the first half (39-16), and that was all it needed to get them a comfortable win.