Darryn Peterson Says He's 'Cool' with AJ Dybantsa amid 2026 NBA Draft No. 1 Pick Rumors

Kansas guard Darryn Peterson and BYU forward AJ Dybantsa may battle it out for the right to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft in June, but Peterson suggested this week that they are on solid terms with each other.

Speaking to Shreyas Laddha of the Kansas City Star on Tuesday about his connection with Dybantsa, Peterson said, "Our relationship ain't like a buddy-buddy relationship, but we respect each other. We were teammates [with] the U16 USA team. So we spent a lot of time around each other. … When you're around somebody, regardless of how much you try not to be cool, y'all end up being cool."

Peterson and Dybantsa arrived on the college basketball scene this season as the top two freshmen in the nation in the eyes of most talent evaluators, and they have shown why throughout the 2025-26 campaign.

In 22 games for the Jayhawks, Peterson is averaging 19.8 points on 44.2 percent shooting to go along with 4.4 rebounds, 2.5 three-pointers made, 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals.

MEAN Darryn Peterson Poster 😨

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Dybantsa has been even better statistically, averaging 25.3 points on 51.3 percent shooting, plus 6.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 three-pointers made and 1.1 steals in 34 games.

Dybantsa Sets Big 12 Record 🔥

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Both Peterson and Dybantsa led their teams to the NCAA tournament, as the Jayhawks are a No. 4 seed in the East Region, and the Cougars are a No. 6 seed in the West.

Since they both played in the Big 12 Conference, Peterson and Dybantsa faced each other once this season. Peterson had 18 points in a 90-82 Kansas win, while Dybantsa finished with 17 points in defeat.

There are varying opinions on who should be the No. 1 pick in the draft between Peterson and Dybantsa, and that was made clear in an article written by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst last week.

Anonymous NBA executives and scouts had differing viewpoints with an Eastern Conference exec calling Dybantsa the "easy No. 1," and an Eastern Conference scout calling Peterson "clearly" the No. 1 player in the draft "talent-wise."

Both Peterson and Dybantsa will have a chance to improve their cases for being the No. 1 overall pick if they can go on deep runs and play well in the NCAA tournament.

Regardless, it seems highly likely that they will be the top two picks in some order, meaning they are set to continue their rivalry built on mutual respect for many years to come at the NBA level.