Kansas expects to have Darryn Peterson available Saturday when the No. 14 Jayhawks welcome AJ Dybantsa and No. 13 BYU to Allen Fieldhouse for a showdown between two of the Big 12’s best teams, and two of the top freshmen in college basketball.

Peterson and Dybantsa are widely expected to join Duke star Cameron Boozer in going in the first three spots of the NBA Draft in June. But the order is anybody’s guess at this point, and it could hinge heavily on how the rest of the season goes.

Dybantsa leads the nation in scoring at 23.6 points per game. Peterson is averaging 21.6, but has appeared in just 10 games.

Peterson missed last week’s win over Kansas State while dealing with an ankle he sprained in a win over Colorado. That was the latest malady for the 6-foot-5 guard, who also has dealt with hamstring and calf issues that have cost him time in every month of the season so far.

“I anticipate him being ready to go,” Kansas coach Bill Self said before Thursday’s practice.

Students have been camping inside Allen Fieldhouse since Monday to get the best seats for the highly anticipated game between the Jayhawks (15-5, 5-2) and Cougars (17-3, 5-2). Each of them are 2.5 games back of Big 12-leading and undefeated Arizona, and a game behind Houston and Texas Tech, meaning the loser could be pushed out of one of the first-round byes available in the Big 12 tournament for the top six teams in the conference.

The showdown between Peterson and Dybantsa has been eagerly anticipated all season.

They crossed paths twice on the AAU circuit last year with Peterson leading Prolific Prep to wins over Utah Prep both times. In the first, Peterson poured in 32 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists in a 76-70 victory. But it was the second game last February in Atlanta that has become legendary: Dybantasa scored 49 points with nine rebounds, only to be outdone by Peterson, who not only scored 58 points, grabbed seven rebounds and five assists, but also hit the winning 3-pointer in an 88-86 victory.

Yet as much as folks are looking forward to their head-to-head matchup, Self said, the reality is that Kansas is still playing BYU.

“We’ve made that point many times,” he said. “I’m sure they would say the same thing about us, too. The objective of the day is to win the game. And that’s the only thing I’m thinking about, and that’s all the players should be thinking about as well.”

It also will be the 1,000th men’s game played at Allen Fieldhouse since it opened on March 1, 1955.

“The building has been open for what, 71 years? That’s a lot,” said Self, who has coached 352 of those games. “As you know, before every tipoff I look at the guys to my right and left — my coaches — and say, ‘Can you believe this? We’re spoiled rotten here.’”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Restrooms and locker rooms in public buildings would be limited to biological gender only under a bill approved Wednesday in the Kansas House.

The 87-36 vote followed nearly six hours of debate.

The bill also requires drivers licenses and birth certificates to reflect a person’s biological gender at birth. The Kansas Court of Appeals struck down a previous gender marker requirement that was part of another law.

Read and track the bill here.

The bathroom requirements were added to the bill during a committee hearing Tuesday afternoon. The proposal does not preclude a gender neutral, single-person restroom facility or a family restroom.

The lack of a formal hearing on the new provision was cited by some in their opposition to the bill.

“There’s no public input in the Senate. There’s no testimony from your municipalities that you live in that are going to have to deal with the fallout and ramifications,” Rep. Dan Osman, D-Overland Park, said.

Other representatives disputed that argument.

“I know for some of you, this may be a brand new bill, you’ve never heard this topic, you’ve never seen it discussed in the legislature, but I can tell you it’s not new. Things like this have come up. We’ve had many conversations,” said Rep. Charlotte Esau, R-Olathe.

Supporters say the policy is about safety and ensuring official documents match biological gender. They also cite privacy, especially for women and girls.

“They deserve environments that respect those boundaries without forcing them to negotiate privacy in moments when they should not have to,” Rep. Megan Steele, R-Manhattan, said.

However, opponents say the bill discriminates against people who are transgender.

“Trans Kansans are not a threat to anyone,” said Rep. Tobias Schlingensiepen, D-Topeka. “There are a lot of people in Kansas, who will be emboldened by this kind of legislation and other kinds of legislation to harass transgender people.”

A motion to send the bill back to committee failed.

The bill would still need approval from the Senate.

Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.

When Chourio reached Low A last July, he became the first pitcher under age 18 in full-season ball since Julio Urías debuted in Low A in 2013. Chourio signed last January for $247,500, began in the Dominican Summer League, then moved to the Arizona Complex League, and between those two stops he walked one batter in 28 2/3 innings for a 0.9 percent walk rate. He finished the year in the Carolina League, where his walk rate soared to 4.2 percent (that’s sarcasm) and he did have real issues with men on base, giving up a .340/.389/.740 line in a small sample of 54 PA. He doesn’t look like a 17-year-old on the mound, certainly, with exceptional command of a three-pitch mix that includes a 94-97 mph four-seamer with some ride and natural cut to it, an upper-70s curveball that seems to drop off the table, and an 84-88 mph changeup with good fade that he almost exclusively used against lefties. He’s already stronger than his listed weight of 160, with a good lower half to maintain that velocity and perhaps add a little more as he becomes an adult. There’s obvious risk with any pitcher his age throwing even moderately hard, and he does have to pitch better from the stretch, but this is everything you’d want to see in a young pitching prospect, including the potential upside of 80 command.