In February 2025, Darryn Peterson scored 61 points in a high school showdown with AJ Dybantsa in a performance that set the internet ablaze. At the time, it served as many scouts’ tipping point to finally bump Peterson over Dybantsa on their personal draft boards, an eye-opening moment that made some rethink long-held beliefs about Dybantsa being his class’s top dog.
The stage for the rematch 11 months later was just a bit bigger: The gym at Meadowcreek High School in the Atlanta suburbs is no Allen Fieldhouse, and the crowd of NBA decision-makers (even one team owner was in attendance at Kansas) certainly dwarfed the attention the previous meeting had gotten.
But in a far brighter spotlight, Peterson only further demonstrated why he looks like the clear choice for No. 1 in the loaded 2026 NBA draft. And his greatest competition may not even be Dybantsa or Duke star Cameron Boozer, but his own ability to stay on the floor. Peterson scored 18 points in the first half in a dazzling display of NBA-level shotmaking, clearly outplaying Dybantsa and helping No. 14 Kansas build a 20-point lead at halftime en route to a 90–82 victory over No. 13 BYU. The only thing that could slow down the 19-year-old wunderkind was cramping in his legs, which caused him to check out of the game before the first media timeout of the second half and not return.
The Jayhawks guard came out of the gates scorching, scoring seven points by the game’s first media timeout. He jumped a passing lane and drew a foul, broke Dybantsa down off the dribble for a smooth layup, then drilled a three in transition that blew the roof off one of college basketball’s most historic venues. He did all that while Dybantsa was nearly invisible, not attempting a shot in the game’s first eight minutes. Amazingly, the guy who entered the game as college basketball’s second-leading scorer was the last of the 10 starters for both teams to put a tally in his scoring column, finally breaking the ice with a three at the 7:22 mark after Kansas stretched its lead to 19.
No matter what defensive coverage BYU threw at Peterson, he found ways to score. Dybantsa drew the assignment early in the game, but Peterson was effective driving by him and generating paint touches. When Peterson got hot from three, BYU went to a face-guarding approach, first with a more traditional big man (Khadim Mboup) chasing him at all times, then putting guards on him. Later, BYU went to a change-of-pace 1-3-1 zone, which Peterson weaved through and produced a poster dunk that will undoubtedly be shown repeatedly between now and the June draft.
UNREAL. pic.twitter.com/rMEBRVZq3A
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) January 31, 2026
What pops most when Peterson is at his best is how easy the game looks for him, in a way few scouts can remember from any guard prospect his age. He’s smooth yet explosive, capable of torching the nets from deep or breaking you down off the bounce. He rarely looks sped up or forced out of control: Even incredibly difficult shots like the ludicrously tough stepback he hit over Dybantsa look simple when Peterson’s doing it.
It's just what he does pic.twitter.com/USu3xRn6jW
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) January 31, 2026
That is, perhaps, the distinction that the more than 30 scouts, (including six from the Pacers and five from the Hawks) praying to have the chance to make a Peterson vs. Dybantsa decision on draft night, will take from watching the two up close. As good as Dybantsa is (and to be sure, he didn’t have his best game Saturday), the Cougars forward’s game is much more labored at this stage. Kansas built a wall defensively when Dybantsa would touch the ball, sending help into defensive gaps that often scared Dybantsa off from going all the way to the rim and forcing him to settle for difficult pullup jumpers. Dybantsa made a pair of threes, though his delivery from distance isn’t nearly as effortless as a shooter like Peterson’s is. Many of these are fixable: Improvement with his handle should help Dybantsa solve problems against pressure more effectively, and you’d expect his shot from the perimeter to continue to come along as his career progresses. As elite of a prospect as Dybantsa may be, you’d be hard-pressed to have watched Saturday’s showdown, seen Peterson’s absurd offensive package, and not want to build around him long-term.
Player Comparison
| Darryn Peterson | Stats | AJ Dybantsa |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Minutes | 34 |
| 18 | Points | 17 |
| 6 of 8 | Field Goals | 6 of 12 |
| 3 of 5 | Three-Pointers | 2 of 4 |
| 3 | Rebounds | 1 |
| 1 | Assists | 1 |
| 3 | Steals | 0 |
| 0 | Turnovers | 2 |
All that assumes, of course, that you trust Peterson to be available. His cramping issues returning in the second half was a reminder of just how disjointed what could’ve been a generational freshman season has been for Peterson. Entering Saturday, he had played just 10 of Kansas’s 20 games, missing the Jayhawks’ rivalry game vs. Kansas State after spraining his ankle against Colorado and fighting through cramping and other muscular discomfort throughout much of nonconference play. There’s only limited recon NBA teams can do on the situation until they get a chance to review his medicals at the NBA draft combine in May, and while there’s no indication that there’s anything more serious at play, the persistence of these cramping problems might create some pause in spite of his on-court exploits.
Media narratives tend to overrate the importance of individual game samples in major franchise-altering decisions like who to take No. 1 in a draft. Scouts have been watching Peterson, Dybantsa, Boozer and the other top names in this class since they were 15 years old, in all different team contexts and environments. But scouting opportunities like Saturday’s showdown are rare (hence all the high-profile decision-makers in attendance) and can certainly clarify what can otherwise be painstaking choices. And in this one, the majority had to leave without much question that the healthy version of Peterson is the worthy (and maybe only) choice if they’re lucky enough to pick first this June.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Darryn Peterson Is Clear No. 1 NBA Draft Pick After Outshining AJ Dybantsa.
