247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein announced Wednesday that Prolific Prep’s Darryn Peterson will finish as the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2025 when the final rankings come out in May. The Kansas commit will jump fellow Grind Session standout and Utah Prep star AJ Dybantsa for the top spot.
Dybantsa has held the No. 1 ranking ever since he reclassified from the 2026 class back in October 2023.
Peterson began his senior season ranked as the No. 3 overall player behind Dybantsa and Duke-bound Cam Boozer, but he jumped Boozer in the last ranking update. Now, he’ll claim the top spot and finish his high school career as the No. 1 prospect in the class.
Peterson was an absolute star for Prolific Prep this year averaging 30.5 points, 7 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game. He shot 48% from the field, 41% from behind the arc, and 84% from the foul line.
He began to assert himself as the No. 1 prospect when he led Prolific Prep to victories over Dybantsa’s Utah Prep and Boozer’s Columbus High School (Miami) late last year. He then guided Prolific Prep to another big win over Utah Prep in February, scoring a team-record 61 points and knocking down a game-winning three-point buzzer-beater.
Then in March, just two weeks after being named 2025 Naismith Boys High School Player of the Year, Peterson led Prolific Prep to its third consecutive Grind Session World Championship and fourth Grind Session title in six years.
Prolific Prep finished the 2024-2025 season with an overall record of 35-6, including a 26-0 record in Grind Session play.
Over the past two weeks, he also had strong showings at the McDonald’s All-American Game, where he shared MVP honors with Boozer, and the Chipotle Nationals. While it was Boozer who led Columbus to their latest championship at Chipotle, Peterson did more than enough to assert his case as the top guy in the 2025 class.
“The No. 1 ranking is not based on who had the best senior season, it’s based on the prospect that we believe has the best long-term future,” Finkelstein said. “At this point, that is Peterson.”
Peterson will now take his talents to Kansas, where he’s expected to serve as the team’s lead guard and help return the Jayhawks to a level of national prominence they’ve missed the last two years. However, he’s not expected to last more than one season in Lawrence. He’s already projected as the potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, according to several early mock drafts.
