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Kansas star Darryn Peterson is set to likely be a top-five pick in this summer’s NBA Draft, but there was a time a few months ago he did not think that day would come.
Peterson missed 11 games this season and had his time cut short in several others due to a series of cramping issues, but the worst one came before the season even started.
Peterson told ESPN recently that in September, he was taken to a hospital from a practice with severe cramping throughout his entire body.
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Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson controls the ball against St. John’s Red Storm guard Oziyah Sellers in the second half of a second-round men’s NCAA Tournament game at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California, on March 22, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
“I made it to the training room and just started begging them to call 911. 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,” Peterson said.
“I thought I was going to die on the training table that day.”
After months of searching for answers, Peterson said that high doses of creatine resulted in the cramping.
Creatine, used to increase muscle size, is perhaps the most studied supplement on the market and has numerous benefits. But for Peterson, it prompted a scary situation.
“I’d never taken it before [going to college]. 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, it must’ve made the levels unsafe,” he said.
Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson drives with the ball against Iowa State Cyclones forward Dominykas Pleta during the second half of the Big 12 basketball game on Feb. 14, 2026, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. (Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
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“It kind of put me in a tizzy because I didn’t know what was causing it. Nothing has ever been wrong with me before. Basketball is my life. What I love to do. But something was going on and I couldn’t figure it out.”
Peterson no longer takes creatine and has not had any issues since. He even played at least 30 minutes in eight of Kansas’ last nine games this past season.
Peterson’s lack of play, of course, drew criticism, but he did all he could to play.
“They saw I was in rehab every day before practice, after practice. Get massages. Trying all types of stuff. Carb loading because they thought I didn’t have glucose or something. Electrolytes. Liquid IV, LMNT. I changed my diet. I meal-prepped. Everything I could think of,” he said.
Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson jogs back after making a three-pointer against Houston Cougars inside Allen Fieldhouse on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Head coach Bill Self even decided that playing off-ball would keep him from overexerting himself, which could potentially lead to more cramping.
Peterson averaged 20.2 points per game and is widely expected to be one of the first names off the board next month.
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