He was Kentucky’s first offer in the 2025 recruiting class. Now, his first visit will be UK.

When shooting guard Darryn Peterson picked up a Kentucky basketball scholarship offer in August 2022, he became the first class of 2025 prospect to be extended an offer by the Wildcats.

Now, another milestone moment in Peterson’s recruitment has arrived.

The first official visit in Peterson’s recruitment is taking place this week, and Peterson is coming to Lexington for it.

Peterson — a 6-foot-6 shooting guard from Ohio who plays prep basketball at Huntington Prep in West Virginia — will be on the UK campus this week for an official visit, which will include UK’s Wednesday night home game against Vanderbilt at Rupp Arena.

Currently ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, Peterson has already established some parameters in his recruitment.

At the start of the year, Peterson trimmed his list of schools to eight, along with the professional pathway: Peterson is considering Arkansas, Baylor, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, and Ohio State.

Auburn, Louisville, Texas and UCLA were among the schools that didn’t survive this cut from Peterson after he initially released a top-16 list last year.

With his list of schools now down to eight, Peterson is beginning the process of following through with some of his previously discussed recruiting plans.

He told On3 he would be taking several official visits before making a decision, and he said some of those visits would be to Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio State.

And it’s UK — which previously hosted Peterson for an unofficial visit in October for Big Blue Madness — that’s first up for an official visit.

Darryn Peterson has already played in Kentucky this season

Peterson previously played high school basketball in his native Ohio at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, but he transferred last offseason to Huntington Prep, which counts Andrew Wiggins (Kansas), Thomas Bryant (Indiana) and Keldon Johnson (Kentucky) among its alumni.

Located only a two-hour drive from Lexington, Peterson has played several games in Kentucky in recent months.

In December, Peterson and Huntington Prep took part in the Griffin Elite Classic in Erlanger. He scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Huntington lost to Newport.

In January, Peterson and Huntington were on the wrong side of a storybook homecoming for fellow class of 2025 recruit Jasper Johnson: The former Woodford County star scored 37 points in his old home gym as his new prep team, Link Academy (Missouri) throttled Huntington, 90-52.

While Peterson was overshadowed that night, the game still marked a chance for UK head coach John Calipari and assistant coach Chin Coleman to watch him play in person. In fact, several members of the 2023-24 UK team made it out to Versailles for that game.

Also in the gym for that contest was North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis and UNC assistant coach Sean May.

“Darryn is an incredible creator, for starters. His ability to get his own shot off the bounce is impeccable, with a myriad of advanced counters for his age,” Alex Brown, a senior analyst for Pro Insight Basketball, told the Herald-Leader last year about Peterson. “... Additionally, he is a standout, high-motor defender that can strip handlers, defend any position on the perimeter and even help out as a rim protector. With excellent athleticism and great size (plus) length for the 2, there is just a ton to like (about Peterson).”

What factors will decide Darryn Peterson’s recruitment?

As Peterson prepares to enter the home stretch of his recruitment, plenty of factors are at play when it comes to a potential landing spot.

Last year, Peterson became the first high school athlete to sign a Name, Image and Likeness deal with Adidas. Of the eight colleges that he’s still considering, two of them are Adidas schools: Indiana and Kansas, the perceived leader in Peterson’s recruitment.

The other schools are either affiliated with Nike (Arkansas, Baylor, Ohio State and UK) or the Jordan Brand (Michigan and North Carolina).

Peterson plays travel basketball on the Adidas 3SSB circuit, and Huntington Prep is outfitted by Adidas.

Peterson — whose father, Darryl, played at the University of Akron and is one of the top scorers in that school’s history — previously played for the same Nike EYBL program (New Jersey Scholars) as current Wildcats Aaron Bradshaw and D.J. Wagner, as well as future Wildcat Billy Richmond.

Then, there are the connections that have potentially been fostered through international basketball.

Peterson was part of the United States national team that won a gold medal last summer at the FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship. Other players on that team included 2024 UK signee Jayden Quaintance, as well as class of 2025 star AJ Dybantsa and class of 2026 standout Tyran Stokes, both of whom also hold Kentucky scholarship offers.

As a top college prospect with a strong ability to create off the dribble, Peterson is obviously in demand from several brand-name schools. But there’s also still the potential for a big change in his recruitment.

Last month, Peterson’s father told 247Sports that an option on the table is for Peterson to reclassify from the 2025 to the 2024 recruiting group, and to redshirt the 2024-25 college basketball season before then playing in the 2025-26 season.

Like Quaintance — who is one of five Kentucky commits in the 2024 recruiting class — Peterson isn’t eligible for the NBA draft until the 2026 edition.

Peterson’s father also said the ability for Peterson to play point guard in college is a factor in his recruitment.

While Kentucky’s aforementioned 2024 recruiting class currently has four signees and one verbal commit, the Wildcats are still yet to land a commitment in the 2025 recruiting group.

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