KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Darryn Peterson and A.J. Dybantsa sat behind tables about 20 feet apart inside the T-Mobile Center, the site of the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament, a couple of weeks ago, dutifully answering questions about their upcoming freshman seasons.
Peterson for Kansas, Dybantsa for BYU.
It was inevitable that one would be asked about the other. Peterson and Dybantsa had been ranked Nos. 1A and 1B among prep basketball players for years, their paths seemingly always intertwined. Perhaps their most famous showdown came during a Grind Session game in Atlanta on the winter AAU circuit, when Peterson poured in 58 points for Prolific Prep, hitting the winning 3-pointer in the final seconds. Dybantsa scored 49 for Utah Prep that night.
“He’s tough, man. Probably one of the better scorers I played against,” Dybantsa said, glancing at Peterson. “I take a lot of pride in my defense, but he’s just a professional scorer. He can score at all three levels, and he makes all the right reads.”
Many NBA analysts have one of these two young stars pegged as the No. 1 prospect for next year’s draft.
Yet the reality is that Peterson and Dybantsa are but two of a dozen — or more — potential one-and-done first-round draft picks scattered across the college basketball landscape this season. The loaded freshman class comes on the heels of an influx of foreign-born players with backgrounds in pro ball, and the explosion of the transfer portal, which were supposed to mean older rosters and fewer first-year players capable of making such an immediate impact.
“To me, Darryn’s the best player we’ve recruited since we’ve been here,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, whose own one-and-done history includes the likes of Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins and, most recently, Grady Dick.
Peterson is at a different level, though. Need proof? How about the 24 points he scored in the first half alone of an exhibition win at Louisville, when the 6-foot-5 combo guard was able to get whatever shot he wanted, whenever he wanted it. He scored 21 points in 22 minutes of the season-opening win over Green Bay on Monday night.
Dybantsa showcased his own potential by pouring in 30 points for the Cougars in their preseason game against North Carolina and added 21 more in a win over Villanova as Peterson was doing his thing in Lawrence.
The ceiling of this year’s one-and-done class is unquestionably high, but so is the depth.
Duke has two likely first-round picks in the Boozer twins, Cameron and Cayden, whose father Carlos starred for the Blue Devils a generation ago. You could make it three elite freshmen if you count Dame Sarr, who played some pro ball in Europe.
The 6-foot-9, 250-pound Cameron Boozer is the centerpiece, illustrated by his performances in exhibition wins against UCF (33 points, 12 rebounds) and at Tennessee (24 points, 23 rebounds). Coach Jon Scheyer, who has routinely coached high-end pro prospects such as last year’s Associated Press national player of the year and No. 1 overall NBA pick Cooper Flagg, said Cameron Boozer has “high-level feel” and intense competitiveness.
“He’s just right in line with those guys, with his preparation, with his consistency and with the fact of how he deeply cares about winning,” Scheyer said. “It’s really been about winning for him, it’s not about numbers. … That’s been the separator, when a guy thinks that way.”
Bitter rival North Carolina has 6-foot-9 forward Caleb Wilson, and ACC foe Louisville features 6-5 guard Mikel Brown Jr. In the SEC, forward Nate Ament is the centerpiece of Rick Barnes’ recruiting class at Tennessee, and John Calipari is back to landing one-and-dones with Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas forming one of the nation’s top backcourts at Arkansas.
“(Ament) certainly has a great respect for his teammates. They have a great respect for him,” Barnes said, “because they see how diligent he goes about his job every day. He’s going to work hard, whether that’s in the weight room — whatever he has to do, he’s going to do it at max ability. I think his teammates respect that a great deal.”
Then there’s the Big 12, which might have the best collection of freshmen assembled by a single conference in recent history.
Peterson and Dybantsa will face off Jan. 31, when the Jayhawks welcome the Cougars to Allen Fieldhouse. But both of those teams could be chasing Houston, which is coming off a national runner-up finish last season, and supplemented a returning core of experienced players with 6-foot-5 guard Isiah Harwell and 6-10 forward Chris Cenac Jr.
“Cenac is going to be good,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, who tends to be difficult to impress. “We’re going to start this journey for him, and the NBA will probably finish it. We’re just going to start it. He’s going to be a really good player.”
The NBA similarly could be the finishing factory for a pair of Arizona recruits, Koa Peat and Brayden Burries; Poat had 30 points and was often spectacular in leading No. 13 Arizona to a 93-87 win over third-ranked and defending national champion Florida in his debut.
Baylor forward Tounde Yessoufou moved from the West African nation of Benin to play high school ball in California and said his coaches and teammates made the transition comfortable.
“I’m not nervous (about college basketball). More excited to go out there and compete,” he said. “It wasn’t easy. It was hard sometimes. But I got more comfortable.”
Yessoufou better not get too comfortable at Baylor.
The NBA could be calling him soon, along with so many other freshmen in college basketball this season.
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Dave Skretta, The Associated Press
