How Topps landed Darryn Peterson's NCAA game patch after Friday win

San Diego — Saturday morning, a little more than 12 hours after Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson pulled off his white Kansas basketball jersey following the Jayhawks' 68-60, Round 1 win over Cal-Baptist, Topps was already promoting on social media that it had acquired the NCAA patch from that jersey.

“JUST IN,” the post began. “We’ve acquired the game-worn NCAA patch from top prospect Darryn Peterson’s March Madness debut and it’s going inside a 1-of-1 trading card. Look for it in packs of Bowman U NOW March Madness, available March 23.”  

Legit story or some kind of social media scam? 

Turns out, it’s 100% legit — and then some. 

So said KU equipment guru Larry Hare, when he was asked about the patch and post on Saturday afternoon during the Jayhawks’ open locker room session at Viejas Arena before the team’s final practice ahead of Sunday’s 2nd round NCAA Tournament game against St. John’s. 

“It’s an NIL program with Topps and Fanatics that three of our guys have deals on,” Hare told R1S1 Sports, noting that freshmen Kohl Rosario and Bryson Tiller were the other two. “They sent documentation to us before we left campus.” 

As you may suspect, when it comes to items in the sports memorabilia space — let alone a patch from the jersey that Peterson wore when he scored 28 points and set the KU record for most points by a freshman in an NCAA Tournament debut — there was a very specific process that went into both preserving the patch and making sure it was authentic. 

Hare said it included putting serial-numbered, color-coded stickers on both the patch and the document of authenticity and then making sure that the patch was delivered to the folks at Topps in as safe and expedient of a manner as possible.

Hare joked that he was a little bit more stern with his instructions to the KU managers than normal after the game to ensure that the three jerseys were cared for in the best way possible. 

The heat-sensitive NCAA patches — blue with white NCAA lettering that live on the upper-righthand part of the jerseys — were applied to each jersey before the games and Hare was able to simply peel them off after the Kansas victory. 

He said the team gets a new set of patches before each round and noted that the longer the patches stay on the jerseys, the better the chance they have of damaging them. 

So, it was a quick and detailed process. 

“It was very, very legit,” he said. “After the game, peel the patch, put one serial number on the patch and the one that matches it on the form,” he said. “For each. And then Topps had somebody here, in the building, for me to hand it to. I had to sign off on it to authenticate it, and my counterpart here at San Diego State (Angie Garza), she was my witness.” 

Hare said the Topps representative sat in the Viejas Arena bowl during the game and walked off the floor after the team. 

“They flew somebody out here,” Hare said. “I didn’t want to sit on (the jerseys) for three days. He walked out while we were going back to the locker room and, within 20 minutes, while you guys were in here doing media, we were running out there and signing off on the forms. Very unique, but something that’s great for the players that will continue in various forms.” 

Hare said this same trio did something jersey-related with Topps/Fanatics earlier this season, as well.

“It’s a new frontier,” he said. “That’s the world we are in now. And that’s one of those small details that we get to be a part of.” 

As for Peterson’s involvement in the patch preserving process, he was aware of it, telling R1S1 Sports that he had seen the social media post, but also noting that he didn’t have anything to do with removing the patch or anything like that. 

“No, no, no; I’m not really a part of that,” he said. “I just signed the thing they told me to sign. But I think it’s super-cool to be a part of it.” 

As for if he had done anything like this before? 

“No, sir,” Peterson said. 

So, there are no other authenticated Darryn Peterson patches or jerseys for sale out there? 

“Not that I know of,” he added. 

The DP NCAA patch is definitely the first — and only — one of its kind to date. 

“First time we’ve done this,” Hare said. “A lot of first times are happening in the NIL world.” 

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