San Diego — Earlier this week, on Selection Sunday, when the world first learned that Kansas and Cal-Baptist would match up with each other in the 4-13 game in the East region, Cal-Baptist senior Jayden Jackson immediately received a text message from a friend of his in Phoenix.
The friend, who Jackson went to school with at Northern Arizona, grew up as a big fan of the Kansas Jayhawks — his family is from the Lawrence area — and he couldn’t believe that his good buddy was about to do battle with KU and star freshman Darryn Peterson.
“When he saw the matchup, he was like, ‘Oh my God, oh my God. That’s so cool, you’re playing Kansas and DP. You gotta get me tickets,’” Jackson told R1S1 Sports in the CBU locker room on Thursday. “So he’s on his way here.”
That’s just one way that the Peterson impact made its way into the Cal-Baptist locker room, long before the two teams arrived in San Diego to prepare for Friday’s matchup at 8:45 p.m. central time on CBS.
Truth be told, the Lancers knew about Peterson long before they learned they would face DP and his team in this year’s Big Dance.
A quick stroll through the CBU locker room on Thursday during open media and practice sessions at Viejas Arena revealed a number of different ways and reasons why.
Some CBU players, like graduate seniors Chase Mayo Harmon and Miles Daniels first learned who Peterson was through social media videos long before the star freshman came to Kansas.
“He’s definitely a good player,” Daniels said, smiling.
“That was the first time I had heard of him,” Mayo Harmon told R1S1 Sports. “When he committed to Kansas and started hooping.”
Added Jackson, who, clearly, was a little behind his friend from Phoenix in learning about DP: “Probably the first time I heard about him was this year, on the draft boards and stuff like that, and just seeing how well he’s performing.”
Then there are CBU players like freshman OJ Blankson, who, like DP, is a freshman going through his first run of college hoops.
Blankson said he knew of guys in the 2025 class who played against Peterson or even with him and their shared experiences inspired him to pay attention.
“I first heard of him a couple years back, maybe three or four years ago,” Blankson said. “We’re in the same recruiting class, so I kept up with him and what he was doing because of that. I’ve never seen him before, but I’ve definitely heard the buzz around his name, though, going back to freshman year, sophomore year.”
Earlier this season, during their non-conference slate, the Lancers faced BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, another star freshman, who, like Peterson, is expected to be a top two or three pick in this summer’s NBA draft.
That opportunity, several Lancers said on Thursday, has helped them prepare their minds for the showdown with Peterson.
Devon Malcolm, another CBU senior, first heard about Peterson back when he was playing at Prolific Prep in high school. And he’s excited about the chance to see how this team stacks up with another star like Dybantsa.
“If you follow B/R Hoops, Slam, they’ve been posting stuff about him for a while,” Malcolm said. “Especially when him and AJ went against each other. We knew we were going to play AJ and BYU last year when we were setting our schedule, but to pull Kansas in March Madness, that was another surprise.”
Now that the surprise has set in, the goal for these guys is to keep this game about a five-on-five battle between teams and not some kind of individual showdown with DP.
Asked if it’s tough to focus on the big picture instead of making a name for themselves against Peterson, several Lancers admitted that could be a challenge.
“To be honest, like, as a competitor, yeah. You always think, ‘Oh, my God I can’t wait to play against these schools or the big schools or these players,” Jackson said. “And you might think about what that moment might accomplish for you. But, at the end of the day, you just gotta trust the work and play your game.”
Said CBU star Dominique Daniels Jr., who first heard about Peterson when he was in high school, “I watched a couple of his games. He’s one of the top prospects in college right now and he’s solid. He’s got game. But it’s always fun to play against the top guys. It gives me a chance to show what I can do, as well.”
And then there was Malcolm, who summed it up with relative ease by tipping his cap to his teammates and coaches and their ability to lock in on the reason they’re here and what got them here.
“I think a lot of people would struggle with that. But none of us ever will,” Malcolm said. “We all want to win. And if that means guarding DP or cheering from the bench, I think we all would do whatever it takes. I don’t think anyone wants to play hero ball here. The real names come from winning in March.”
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