Bill Self emphatically denies Kansas star Darryn Peterson load management narratives: 'Not remotely true'

One of the biggest stories of the college basketball season has been the status of Kansas superstar freshman Darryn Peterson. And not for his play on the floor.

When he is on the court, there’s a strong argument to be made that he is the best player in college basketball. Peterson, however, has struggled with that. He’s missed 11 of Kansas‘ 24 games this season with different issues, including an illness that kept him out of Monday night’s marquee matchup against No. 1 Arizona in Lawrence Fieldhouse.

Peterson’s absences and mysterious stretches in games where he is off the court have led to rumors regarding potential load management. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bill Self completely shut these narratives down during a press conference on Thursday.

Bill Self shuts down Darryn Peterson’s load management rumors

“This is a, I’m not a social media guy, but I have gotten on X and read some of the things and narratives that are out there about him, and it’s really not remotely true,” Self said. “The thing about it is, when you’re honest, people don’t believe you, and when you don’t comment on it, people create their own narratives. And you know what? I do the same thing about things I don’t know about: ‘Well, it must be this, you know, geez, it has to be that if they’re not going to talk about it.’ But here’s the bottom line. Was his hamstring legit? Hell, yes.

“The narrative is BS in many ways. I’m not sure. Load management, this kid hadn’t talked about that one time or anything. Load management, geez, that’s when you play four games in seven days. That’s not when you play one half a week or anything like that. So those aren’t true. The narratives have, at least some of the ones I saw, are inaccurate. But the whole thing is, it’s true. He’s really sick. Is he better today? Yeah, he was out there yesterday. Was he full speed? No.

“I would think, when you’re 19 years old and you’re dealing with everybody having a narrative about everything that’s going on, or you’re sitting on the bench and you’ve got heat warmers on your legs or whatever, and now everybody’s got a narrative about a heat warmer. I mean, but that’s what he’s dealing with, and that’s the world he’s getting ready to enter. But the narratives haven’t been accurate.”

Without Peterson on the court against the Wildcats, No. 9 Kansas handed No. 1 Arizona its first loss of the season. If the projected top-two NBA Draft pick can get his health steady enough to play normal minutes in March, the Jayhawks should be an absolute threat to win the NCAA Tournament. In 13 games this season, Peterson is averaging 20.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists.