Prolific Prep guard becomes the first Grind Session player to ever win the illustrious award.
Grind Session star Darryn Peterson of Prolific Prep has been named the 2025 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Boys High School Player of the Year.
The 2025 McDonald’s All-American and Kansas signee beat out Five-Star Plus+ small forward AJ Dybantsa, Five-Star Plus+ power forward Cam Boozer, Five-Star Plus+ SF Nate Ament and five-star point guard Darius Acuff for the illustrious award.
Peterson becomes the first ever Grind Session player to win the award, which began in 1987.
“It is an unbelievable honor to win the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Player of the Year. To know that I have added my name to a list that includes LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and others is quite the feeling,” Peterson said. “My teammates and I put in an extreme amount of work throughout the year, and it would not be possible without them. I would like to thank the members of the committee that voted for me, as the five finalists for this award were all deserving.”
A 6-foot-5 guard from Canton, Ohio, Peterson is nationally ranked No. 2 by ESPN.com and 247Sports.com, and No. 3 by Rivals.com and On3.com. A frontrunner for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, he’s playing his senior season at Prolific Prep, where he’s averaging 30.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game. He’s also shooting 52 percent from the field and 86 percent from the free throw line and has guided Prolific Prep to a 28-5 record. Prolific Prep is currently ESPN’s No. 5-ranked team in the country.
Prior to Prolific Prep, Peterson began his high school career at Cuyahoga Falls High School in Ohio, where he played his first two seasons before transferring to Huntington Prep in West Virginia for his junior year. He played club basketball for Phenom United where he averaged 28.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 4.2 steals and 3.0 blocked shots per game last past summer in the Adidas 3Stripes Select league.
In 2023, Peterson won a gold medal with USA Basketball at the FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship in Mexico. At the championship, he averaged 16.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.3 steals in earning all-tournament honors.
In November, he committed to Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks, choosing them over Ohio State, USC, and Kansas State.
“This is one of the best recruiting moments that Kansas basketball has had in decades,” Self said in a press release after Peterson signed. “Darryn is an all-around guard that scores at all levels and is also a terrific facilitator and defender.”
