Darryn Peterson looks a lot like...
Kansas' first top recruit since Andrew Wiggins looks eerily similar to one of the NBA's biggest legends.
It’s almost a taboo to compare any prospect to any NBA great, especially before they even play a college game. It worked out for LeBron James, who was often compared to Magic Johnson, with bits of Vince Carter or other freakish high-fliers, but that’s just LeBron.
On the other side of the coin, we’ve walked the grooves many times. Did Andrew Wiggins become Kobe Bryant? Did Zion Williamson become LeBron? Both have had All-Star careers, of course, but would the fruit of their success have tasted even sweeter had it not been for comparison?
That’s why, when I say Darryn Peterson looks a lot like five-time MVP and six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan, it’s not a projection. It is purely an aesthetic observation.
It’s still a considerable burden to bear. The way Jordan played basketball was an art form. It wasn’t too dissimilar from the Clyde Drexlers, George Gervins, and David Thompsons that preceded him, but was done with a unique, un-replicate-able flair we’ve only seen Bryant try and emulate to a similar enough tune.
Anatomically, the similarities are evident: Peterson stands 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs 195 pounds, possessing a 6-foot-10.5 wingspan. Before bulking up mid-way through his legendary career, Jordan measured an inch taller, but weighed the same, with the exact same wingspan.
If there was a single measurement to separate Jordan, though, it was his rumored 48-inch vertical — scrutinized for its validity, but hard to alienate from his ridiculous acrobatic hijinks around the rim. Peterson’s vertical is not 48 inches, though; he possesses a notable amount of pop when he needs to get up and over.
Peterson’s elevation extends to his jump shot, too. While he’s not a high-volume rocket launcher from beyond the arc, when he’s in a groove, he puts on shot-making clinics from inside and outside … with a familiar clutch factor.
Flat-out comparisons like this have the capacity to minimize a prospect, however. Of course, in some senses, it can blind us from what makes them not the all-time greats we pose them to be, but it can also distract us from what might make them better.
This is an issue for prospects with the notorious “3&D” label on both ends. Sometimes, scouts forget that if all a player can do is shoot and hold up on defense, that player likely won’t see an NBA floor. Other times, a player is pigeonholed for their shooting and defensive prowess, minimizing the many other things they do well.
It’s a tedious process, but, alienated from comparison, the sell on Peterson is simultaneously simple and long: He has a pro frame with elite athletic traits, and a best-in-class handle to unlock everything he needs to be a 20-point-per-game scorer at any level. He’s an acrobat around the rim with a well-rounded pull-up game that he routinely blends with masterful post-work. He can and will play point guard for Kansas because his vision is also elite. Arguably best of all, however, is the fact that he’s a bulldog on defense who wants to dominate his opponent on every possession, also utilizing cat-like anticipation and reflexes to manipulate passing lanes and attack rotations.
In a class with Goliath-sized wings, athletic freaks, and unicorn bigs, Peterson can stand above the rest, not because he echoes His Airness perhaps more articulately than anybody since Bryant, but because of all the reasons listed above.
From a statistical angle as well, he dominated. Per 75 possessions with Prolific Prep, Peterson averaged 31.5 points per game on 60.3% true shooting, going with 8.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists. Defensively, he put together over 3 stocks as well.
It’s hard to understate how good he was in his final year of high school. Peterson dominated, and not against low-level competition. He and Prolific Prep took a tour, facing off against the biggest and best prospects and teams in high school basketball. Prolific Prep went 35-6 this past season, and though high major talent like Niko Bundalo (Ole Miss), Winters Grady (Michigan), and another top-five player in their class like Obinna Ekezie, Jr. (No. 4, 2027), Peterson was doing a ton of the heavy lifting.
In two games against No. 2 recruit AJ Dybantsa and Utah Prep, Peterson put up lines of 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists, as well as 61 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Against No. 3 Cameron Boozer and Columbus, he went for 33 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. He and Prolific held a 3-0 record in these games.
For as good as Peterson is, his pathway to getting better is clearer than perhaps any of his peers. For as good as he is getting to the rim, he could get to the rim even more. For as good a shooter as he is, he could take more threes. As athletic as he is, he could become even more flexible as a driver.
Peterson’s crux is also one of his biggest strengths, his go-to shot: his floater. He’ll pull it out from 5-to-18 feet out, with a line drive or a rainbow to the rim, dying flat on the edge of the basket if not just sinking straight in. He gets this off when his center of gravity is lowest, hunting the smallest bit of space before suddenly rising and firing it off his fingertips. It’s efficient, but even more than it is deadly, it’s unpredictable.
The issue with the shot is not in Peterson’s execution; it’s that it limits the more efficient shots on the board. Peterson is more than capable of putting the ball on the floor once more and getting to the rim, with the touch to excel from beyond the arc.
However, with increased spacing on a talented Kansas roster, centered around his ability to play with the ball, it’s an issue that may fix itself. Peterson was aided by shooters aplenty at Prolific, though often marred by two-big lineups inhibiting his deep paint touches.
Referring to his malnutrition from beyond the arc, it isn’t hesitancy impeding Peterson. There is, of course, room for improvement in the shot itself. The follow-through is inconsistent, and the lower body can run wild off the dribble, leading to Peterson holding a below-average percentage from three historically.
The minuscule warts in Peterson’s game, however, are heavily overshadowed by the massive, gargantuan strengths he possesses. And, while he isn’t Michael Jordan, aesthetically, those strengths sure allow him to do a damn-good impression.
Peterson will be inalienable from top pick discussions throughout the 2026 NBA Draft cycle. Not because he’s the second coming of any all-time great, but because he’s himself.
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