Bill Self on narratives surrounding Darryn Peterson: 'It's not remotely true'
When Darryn Peterson sat out his 11th game of the season this past Monday against No. 1 Arizona due to “flu-like symptoms,” the takes from national media pundits started to pour in.
“He lost me,” ESPN’s Seth Greenberg said. ‘Oh I have a cold?’ Seriously? A cold? I go to work everyday when I have a cold.”
“No way I’m drafting him No. 1 overall,” Aaron Torres wrote.
The noise has been loud enough that Kansas coach Bill Self, who rarely goes on social media, has seen the narratives. And he has a message about everyone’s takes and criticisms on Peterson’s situation.
“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, and 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. It has to be that if they’re not going to talk about it.”
But as Self mentioned, the hamstring was legit. The cramping was legit. His turned ankle in the Colorado game that caused him to miss Kansas State and play BYU off one day of practice? Legit.
“Then of all things, he gets sick,” Self said. “And this is what blows my mind — he didn’t play because he’s sick, isn’t a big deal — but he didn’t play because he was sick and the other games added together, it becomes a big deal in people’s minds. He’s just got a string of bad luck. But was he sick? Yeah, he’s sick enough where he couldn’t practice.
“But he still said he was going to give it a run. He came to shootaround and he gave it a run. He went out before and gets lightheaded and I walk in and the doctor says, ‘Bill, he’s not going to be able to go.’ But the negative was people saw him out there. What could have happened between being out there and not playing? Bottom line is he was just trying to see if he could go. If he wanted to run from it or hide from it, he wouldn’t have gone out there. So the narrative is B.S. in many ways.”
Self later added that Peterson was in practice yesterday and today, but he wasn’t full speed. Kansas hopes he can be closer to full speed on Friday and then ready to go on Saturday in Ames against No. 5 Iowa State.
Still, Self acknowledged how heavy the spotlight can be for someone who’s every move or missed game becomes a national talking point.
“It’s a lot 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 got heat warmers on your legs and now everybody’s got a narrative about a heat warmer,” Self said. “I mean, come on. 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.”
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