Why Darryn Peterson blames creatine doses for cramping issues at Kansas

Darryn Peterson was one of the best players in college basketball this season, but frequent absences from games were a huge talking point throughout the season.

Peterson played 11 games during the season but didn't suffer a serious injury; instead missing games sporadically with unnamed issues over the course of the year. It got to the point where some analysts believed Peterson was load managing himself to put him in a better position for the NBA Draft in June.

Well, Peterson finally revealed his issues that led to missing games, and it was not load management. Instead, Peterson said he dealt with cramping from taking creatine and had such a serious episode of cramping that it made him fearful of it happening again.

As Peterson is set to be a top pick in the draft this year, NBA teams will be very interested in getting the full story on why Peterson would take himself out of games at times. Here's Peterson's explanation for his strange season.

MORE: Full two-round 2026 NBA mock draft

Why Darryn Peterson blames creatine for cramping issues

Over the course of his freshman season at Kansas, Peterson dealt with cramping issues that forced him to miss games. While Peterson's issues were largely vague during the season, the guard said he developed cramping after using creatine for the first time.

"I'd never taken it before [college]," Peterson said, via ESPN. "But after the season, I took two weeks off and they did tests which showed my baseline level was already high. So, they said when I dosed, it must've made the levels unsafe."

Some athletes use creatine as a way to help build muscle more easily, and Peterson steadily increased his dosage over the course of the season.

Peterson had a serious cramping episode before the season began that impacted how he approached cramping during the season. He waited to reveal this publicly because he didn't know the source of his cramping until after the year, when he stopped using creatine and doctors diagnosed the issue through his bloodwork.

MORE: Darryn Peterson's timeline of Kansas controversies

Darryn Peterson cramping issues

Peterson said his cramping began at a Kansas basketball boot camp in September, when his entire body slowly cramped up and he had to go to the hospital.

"I made it to the training room and just started begging them to call 911," he said. "They were trying to get a vein to get me the IV, get me back hydrated. But I was cramping so hard they couldn't get a vein. I thought I was going to die on the training table that day."

Doctors believed Peterson was severely dehydrated and kept him in the hospital for several hours. However, the experience was so severe that Peterson feared that it would happen again.

"Whenever I felt anything like that come on, my initial thought was that it might get to that again," Peterson said. "And I can't let that happen and be embarrassed and have that on TV and all that."

That is why Peterson remained cautious throughout the year, as he was scared about getting severe cramps in front of a national audience. The guard would ask out of the game when he thought he felt a cramping episode was creeping up in a game.

"My biggest thing was I'm going to keep trying because we don't know what's wrong and we can't say something's wrong," he said. "So, I'm going to go out there and when it happens, I'm going to ask to come out. I don't know if that was a right or wrong move."

Peterson argued that he wanted to do everything he could to win at Kansas, and it appeared easier for him down the stretch. Peterson played at least 36 minutes in three of his final four games, and at least 30 minutes in seven of his final nine contests.

Along with Peterson, Kansas kept this private out of respect for its star guard. Now that Peterson has a full understanding of what's happening, he can approach his career with an idea of how to prevent this cramping from happening.