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Kansas star Darryn Peterson is likely to be a top-five pick in this summer’s NBA draft, but there was a time a few months ago when he didn’t think this 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 came before the season even started.
Peterson recently told ESPN that in September he was taken from an office to the hospital with severe cramping throughout his 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 game in the men’s NCAA tournament at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California on March 22, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
“I got to the training room and started begging them to call 911. They were trying to get a vein to give me an IV and rehydrate me. But I was cramping so bad 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 high doses of creatine caused cramping.
Creatine, used to increase muscle size, is perhaps the most researched supplement on the market and has many benefits. But for Peterson, it caused a frightening situation.
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“I’ve never taken it before [going to college]. But after the season I took two weeks off and they did some tests which showed that my baseline level was already high. So they said when I took the dose it must have made the levels dangerous,” 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 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 daze because I didn’t know what was causing it. Nothing was ever wrong with me before. Basketball is my life. What I love to do. But something was happening and I couldn’t figure it out.”
Peterson no longer takes creatine and has had no problems since. He even played at least 30 minutes in eight of Kansas’ final nine games last season.
Peterson’s lack of play of course drew criticism, but he did everything he could to play.
“They saw that I was in detox every day before and after training. Get a massage. Try all kinds of things. Carb loading because they thought I had no glucose or something. Electrolytes. IV fluid, LMNT. I changed my diet. I prepared meals. Everything I could think of,” he said.
Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson returns after scoring a three-pointer against the 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 without the ball would prevent him from overexerting himself, which could potentially lead to more cramps.
Peterson averaged 20.2 points per game and should be one of the first names on the board next month.
