Five-Star Plus+ SG Darryn Peterson narrows list to four schools

Five-Star Plus+ prospect and No. 1 shooting guard Darryn Peterson is down to four schools in his recruitment, he tells On3’s Joe Tipton.

Peterson will now consider only Kansas State, USC, Kansas and Ohio State.

The 6-foot-5, 195-pounder is the nation’s No. 3 overall prospect in the 2025 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Last month, it was announced that Peterson had transferred to Prolific Prep for his senior season, according to an Instagram post from his dad, Darryl Peterson.

Peterson spent his junior season at national powerhouse Huntington Prep (W.V.) after playing his first two years close to home at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy.

As a sophomore, Peterson averaged 31 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.3 assists and was a finalist for the Ohio Mr. Basketball Award at Cuyahoga before leaving because the state of Ohio prevented high school athletes from receiving NIL deals.

“We don’t have NIL deals in Ohio,” his coach at CVCA, Matt Futch, told the Akron Beacon-Journal. “That was a lot in the reasoning and decision making that they had to go into making this decision. You gotta put yourself in position as a young person to take advantage of that. That can be life changing. That played a major role in this decision because Ohio does not have NIL.”

In November, it was announced that Peterson signed an NIL deal with Adidas, becoming the first high school athlete to do so. 

Now after one season in West Virginia, he’ll move across the country to play for Prolific, one of the nation’s top high school basketball academies.

Peterson breaks down contenders in his recruitment

In a previous interview with On3’s Jamie Shaw, Peterson discussed several of the schools recruiting him.

KANSAS: “I knew a lot about Kansas coming into the visit. I’ve been a fan of Kansas for a long time, so I knew everything about the program. Being able to talk to Coach (Bill) Self was cool. I’ve never been able to talk with him face-to-face like that. He’s a cool guy and a great coach. The biggest thing about the facilities for me was they have a gym inside of where they live. I would be able to get into that whenever I need to.”

OHIO STATE: “That’s the hometown. Coach (Jake) Deibler said he wanted to have me in that ball screen action a lot. That’s big for me, playing that point guard position.”

USC: “Coach (Eric) Musselman, that’s my guy. With them, it’s the big guards. Anthony Black, and Nick Smith, he’s gotten big guards to the league, big point guards.”