Kentucky officially out of the running for 5-star SG Darryn Peterson

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Five-Star Plus+ guard Darryn Peterson was a top Adidas 3SSB performer (photo credit - Jamie Shaw)

We can go ahead and take one name off Kentucky’s 2025 recruiting Big Board.

On Tuesday, On3’s Joe Tipton reported that five-star shooting guard Darryn Peterson is down to just four schools: Kansas State, Southern California, Kansas, and Ohio State. Kentucky was once in the running for Peterson’s talents, starting with John Calipari and continuing with Mark Pope once he was hired in the spring. The Wildcats even made Peterson’s top eight in late July and he was expected to visit Lexington this fall, but he’s since elected to look elsewhere.

A 6-foot-5 guard, Peterson, who recently transferred to Prolific Prep (CA) for his senior season, is ranked No. 3 overall in the 2025 class by the On3 Industry Ranking.

NEWS: 5⭐️ Darryn Peterson, the No. 1 ranked shooting guard in the 2025 class, has narrowed his list to four schools, his father tells @On3Recruits:

Kansas State
USC
Kansas
Ohio State

Story: https://t.co/LU3vTiiUa8 pic.twitter.com/rhDXUTSGdg
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) September 3, 2024

It wasn’t a huge surprise to see Kentucky not make the final list cut for Peterson, although the Wildcats had been on him throughout the summer. He was re-offered by UK in late April and the term “dream school” was being thrown around. But Pope eventually shifted his priorities in a different direction.

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Pope has been focusing his recruiting efforts in the backcourt on the likes of Jasper Johnson, Braylon Mullins, Mikel Brown, Brayden Burries, and Tounde Yessoufou. Peterson has been considered a heavy Kansas lean in recent months, especially when taking into account his current NIL deal with adidas, which is partnered with the Jayhawks and Prolific Prep.

Peterson took an official visit to Ohio State (he’s originally from Ohio) over the weekend and has another official with Kansas State scheduled for the end of the month. He previously visited Southern California in early August and was at Kansas in June. A commitment could come as soon as the fall, but it won’t be to Kentucky.