Kansas star Darryn Peterson's recurring availability issue remains his biggest red flag, but not to former Indiana and Marquette basketball coach Tom Crean.
Crean knows the issues are concerning, but he does not believe that Peterson's mentality should be questioned. The 59-year-old recalled his time coaching Anthony Edwards at Georgia, remembering the pressure that the potential No. 1 pick can feel.
“I think the NBA will dig in hard, and I think if it is [a problem], we'll know when that time comes,” Crean said on ‘SportsCenter,' via On3 Sports. “Is it a red flag? It depends. He's a young man; he just turned 19 in January. We seem to forget that. We want to call them pros, but they're still kids. Now, he's making a lot of money, but there's a lot going on here.”
Crean denounced claims that Peterson simply does not want to play, saying he sees the fire in the Kansas star's eyes whenever he is on the court. Crean noted that Peterson is “going through something,” but it is not affecting his love for basketball.
“But at the end of the day, when you watch him play, when you watch him with his teammates, when you watch him support his teammates — I don't want to hear any of this nonsense that he doesn't want to play, or he's not locked into playing. He's going through something; it's obvious. And I think when Bill said that, I think he's making it kind of clear.”
The ex-Indiana head coach added that he has seen players deal with significant cramps before, which he says are “not an excuse.”
Nobody has doubted Peterson's talent, but critics have concerns about his ability to play at the next level, given his struggles to keep up with the college basketball schedule at Kansas. The freshman has appeared in only 15 of the Jayhawks' first 26 games and left multiple contests early due to his cramping.
