Darryn Peterson: ‘Wasn’t really myself until end of season’

The ending came quickly. The bigger picture didn’t change much.

Darryn Peterson watched Kansas’ season end on a buzzer-beater Sunday, a 67-65 loss to St. John’s that closed the book on what was supposed to be a breakout freshman year.

Instead, it was something else.

“I was hurt for a majority of it,” Peterson said, via Ira Gorawara of The Athletic. “I wasn’t really myself, really, until the end of the year. So I guess whatever people see in these last games is kind of me.”

That’s probably the most accurate way to describe it.

Peterson, widely viewed as a top-three pick in the upcoming draft, appeared in just 16 games and never really found a rhythm. There were flashes. There always are with that kind of talent. Consistency never quite followed.

He didn’t spend much time wondering about it.

“I don’t believe in what could have been,” Peterson said. “It is what it is.”

His teammates see it differently. Or maybe just more optimistically.

“Number one,” guard Jamari McDowell said when asked about Peterson’s draft outlook. “He’s got it. He’s the best ever.”

Guard Melvin Council Jr. agreed Peterson didn’t show everything this season.

“I don’t think so,” Council said. “But he’s going to. Watching his high school highlights, you see what he can do. Scoring 60, 70 points — that’s what y’all didn’t see yet.”

Coach Bill Self pointed to the obvious factor.

“He’s had moments where he’s looked great and moments where obviously his health didn’t allow him to play like we all know he’s capable of playing,” Self said.

So the season ends with questions. The projection remains the same.

NBA teams will be betting on what he is. Not necessarily what this season showed.