Kansas' Darryn 'DNP' Peterson Strikes Again, Subs Himself Out After Only 18 Minutes

When the argument about NIL and whether to pay college athletes became a legitimate one in the past decade, you would often hear naysayers bring up the fact that one of the "side effects" would be that players would start to "opt out" of important games.

It started with bowl games and national championship games in college football, and everyone who brought this up would just be labeled alarmists and would get a slippery slope fallacy slapped on their argument.

Kansas Jayhawks freshman Darryn Peterson is a case study in how those "slippery slopers" may, once again, have been right all along.

Peterson is a consensus top-five NBA Draft pick whenever he decides to declare for the draft, and he seems to be doing his best to keep his legs fresh for the association.

Before conference play even started, the man they dubbed "DNP" (a play on his initials as well as the "did not play" designation), missed nine of Kansas' 13 non-conference games.

Then came "Flu Gate," a game against top-ranked Arizona where Peterson sat due to "flu-like symptoms" but was seen bounding up and down the court and joking with his teammates during warm-ups just before tip off.

The Jayhawks would go on to knock off the Wildcats without their prized guard, but the trend was becoming noticeable and worrying to everyone in Lawrence.

Fast-forward to Wednesday night, and DNP struck once again, this time appearing to substitute himself out of a game in the second half due to cramping after tallying 23 points in only 18 minutes of play.

While Kansas coach Bill Self obliged and took Peterson out of the game, he was singing a much different tune in his postgame presser, citing this as a recurring theme for his superstar underclassman.

Was Peterson actually cramping, or was this another case of "load management?"

Who's to say? But if he really was dealing with a cramp or injury, it's getting increasingly harder to take him at his word; a very "boy who cried wolf" situation.

Fans all over social media are starting to call Peterson on his antics as well, and he's receiving next to no benefit of the doubt in the court of public opinion.

We could be seeing an immensely talented young man play (or, in this case, not play) himself out of being a top-five pick in this year's NBA Draft.

The bigger issue, though, is the NIL side of things.

It's no secret Kansas had to pay a pretty penny to secure the commitment of Darryn Peterson. Every school in the country wanted this kid, and for obvious reasons.

But is he worth it?

If the Jayhawks get to hang another banner, then I'm sure they would give a resounding "yes," but it's a terrible precedent to set.

And clearly, they don't need him to be a great team, evidenced by the fact that they were able to beat the number one team in the country after finding out 20 minutes before tip off that their starting guard wouldn't be playing.

There's a good chance we see more players like Darryn Peterson: million dollar skills with five cent hearts.

Load management is practically second nature in the NBA, and it's trickled its way down to college basketball.

I don't know what the answer is here; smarter men than myself have failed to figure this whole thing out.

It's just another symptom of the sickness that has been plaguing collegiate sports lately, and, sadly, I don't see it getting better anytime soon.