The noise around Kansas star Darryn Peterson keeps getting louder after the Jayhawks’ stunning 84-68 home loss to Cincinnati on Saturday.

Peterson played 32 minutes, just three minutes shy of his season high. Yet Kansas looked lethargic and managed only 68 points on a poor-shooting afternoon.

And even on a day when Peterson’s time on the court finally wasn’t the issue, controversy still found him. 

This photo made the rounds on social media and was catnip for Peterson detractors, even though there are plenty of plausible explanations for why he might have been standing away from his teammates in that moment.

But that wasn’t even the worst of the Twitter noise. 

Yes, that is ESPN’s Dick Vitale suggesting that KU move on from Peterson, one of the most talented players we’ve ever seen in college basketball. 

If that sounds like a crazy notion, that’s because it is. 

Peterson is a walking bucket. As talented a scorer as you will ever find. He raises the Jayhawks' ceiling to a national title contender. 

How could you ever dream of kicking him to the curb just weeks before the NCAA tournament?

I would listen to an argument that Kansas raises its floor by moving on from him. The odds of a Cincinnati-esque dud performance during the first two rounds are probably higher when the team is trying to figure out how integrate Peterson effectively. 

KU is 9-2 without Peterson this season and has already proven capable of beating top-five Arizona with him on the bench. There is a sense of certainty and urgency that seems to come from the Jayhawks when the rest of the crew has to do it themselves, and the rest of the roster is certainly not devoid of talent. 

But Bill Self may not have much time left as a head coach. His health issues are well-documented, and he had another scare earlier this season when he missed the Colorado game with dehydration and atrial fibrillation issues. 

What does another Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight really add at this point, even if it cools off the heat after three straight first-weekend exits? Self’s legacy is essentially set unless he wins another national championship. 

A third title would put him in the same group as Bobby Knight and Roy Williams. That’s a real legacy enhancer. 

So you shoot your shot with Peterson and live with the result. It is not a safe bet that everything suddenly clicks and he plays an inspired 35 minutes per game in March, but stranger things have happened. 

The Peterson challenge is unique, even for a coach who has seen almost everything. But if there is anyone built to navigate something this complicated, it is Self.

I’d imagine that’s exciting to somebody who is wired the way a Hall of Fame coach is. 

Peterson could even make all of this talk look silly as soon as tonight when the Jayhawks host second-ranked Houston. A KU win would wash away much of the concern from the loss to the Bearcats over the weekend. If it happens with Peterson playing big, productive minutes, it would make quite a statement. 

But if it doesn’t, time is running out to make the pieces fit cohesively. Even Self has acknowledged as much. 

"The time is now."

What You Need to Know

• Peterson did give a rare interview to ESPN’s Myron Metcalf for this in-depth story that came out over the weekend. 

• AJ Dybantsa put together a brilliant performance in BYU’s much-needed 79-69 win over sixth-ranked Iowa State. 

• It was also a stroke of marketing genius for him to drop this line in the post-game press conference. I’ll explain why here. 

• Here’s the latest on K-State’s search to replace Jerome Tang, including one mid-major coach and one former power conference coach to watch out for. 

• The Big 12 had two number-one seeds in the NCAA tournament selection committee’s bracket preview reveal. Five Big 12 teams made the top sixteen overall. 

• Six Big 12 teams are on the NCAA tournament bubble, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology update. 

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