Former Kansas Jayhawks star and projected top-three draft pick Darryn Peterson spoke to ESPN this week, revealing that he figured out the culprit behind his cramping issues in his lone college season.
He said his newest medical tests led doctors to determine it was because he was taking creatine, a supplement often used to enhance energy and athletic performance.
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“I’d never taken it before [going to college],” Peterson told ESPN. “But after the season I took two weeks off and they did tests which showed my baseline level was already high. So, they said when I dosed [a process of increasing a dose over time to create maximum benefit at the beginning of taking a supplement], it must’ve made the levels unsafe.”
The extended cramping issues seriously hindered Peterson throughout the season. The freshman star was forced to miss 11 games and asked to be subbed out early in several others.
Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson talks to head coach Bill Self during a game against the Iowa State Cyclones. Jay Biggerstaff — IMAGN IMAGES
These cramps had the potential to be devastating as he detailed his scariest episode that landed him in the hospital.
As he participated in coach Bill Self’s annual boot camp in September, Peterson’s entire body began cramping.
“I made it to the training room and just started begging them to call 911,” he said. “They were trying to get a vein to get me the IV, get me back hydrated. But I was cramping so hard they couldn’t get a vein.
“I thought I was going to die on the training table that day.”
It took several hours and multiple IV bags, but Peterson recovered. At the time, doctors thought it could be severe hydration and he remained sore for days after the incident.
But given the uncertainty around the cause, he said he opted to play through it, although the fear of another full-body episode caused him to ask out of games when the cramping began.
“My biggest thing was I’m going to keep trying because we don’t know what’s wrong and we can’t say something’s wrong. So, I’m going to go out there and when it happens, I’m going to ask to come out. I don’t know if that was a right or wrong move.”
Eventually, Peterson figured out how to better manage the issue and was able to play more consistently near the end of the season. He recorded 30 minutes or more in eight of the last nine regular-season games.
Despite the injury issues, Peterson had a fantastic freshman season in which he was one of the most lethal scorers in college basketball.
These cramping concerns were the biggest question mark surrounding his NBA draft stock, but those now appear to be a thing of the past.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
