Prep rivals Darryn Peterson (of Kansas) & Brown (Louisville) meet again on Friday
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Peterson (No.2 recruit) and Brown (No.8 recruit) renew high‑school rivalry Friday night.
- Kansas travels to Louisville for an exhibition that tests both teams before 2025 play.
- Key matchup: KU big Flory Bidunga likely to guard Louisville transfer Aly Khalifa in game.
Two former high school hoops rivals return to the Bluegrass State on Friday for their much-anticipated (if unofficial) college basketball debuts.
It’s Darryn Peterson of Kansas, the No. 2-ranked prospect in the recruiting class of 2025 per ESPN.com, leading the Kansas Jayhawks against No. 8-rated Mikel Brown Jr. of Louisville in an exhibition game set for 6:30 p.m. Central Time at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville.
The game, which will be televised on the ACC Network, marks the second time this year that the two point guards will have met on the hardwood. They dazzled in a classic one-on-one duel at a Jan. 11 Grind Session contest in Paducah, Kentucky.
Peterson, 6-foot-6, 205 pounds and originally from Canton, Ohio, poured in 39 points with nine rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots in Prolific Prep’s 89-81 victory over Brown’s DME Academy squad. Brown, 6-5, 180 and from Orlando, scored 29 points with eight assists and four rebounds.
“It’ll be great. We’ve been going at it for a year or two now,” Brown said during Louisville’s media day when asked about his McDonald’s All-America counterpart. “I think that vibe of the first game … it’s an exhibition, not the regular season, but first college basketball game — to be able to go up against him, man it’ll be great.
“Also, that program is legendary,” Brown added of KU. “The history that program has is big-time; us as well. I think it’ll be two great teams going at it Friday.”
Brown won the 3-point shooting contest at last spring’s McDonald’s All-America game in Brooklyn, New York. He had five points and five assists in the West’s 105-92 all-star game victory over the East.
A teammate of Brown’s that evening, Peterson secured co-MVP honors (with Cameron Boozer of the East) by scoring 18 points with seven rebounds.
“I’m familiar with him, yes,” Peterson said Wednesday when asked about Brown at the Big 12 basketball media day event inside Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center. “Great player for sure, but once we step on the floor that will all go out the window.”
There’s another intriguing individual matchup for the game between Louisville, the No. 11 ranked squad in the preseason AP poll, and No. 19 Kansas.
KU sophomore big man Flory Bidunga, a 6-10, 235-pound native of Democratic Republic of Congo who averaged 5.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per game as a freshman, will likely be assigned to guard senior Aly Khalifa, who will be making his debut at Louisville.
A 7-foot-0, 250-pound transfer from BYU, Khalifa sat out last season at Louisville while rehabbing from knee surgery. He started 26 of 29 games in his junior season at BYU, averaging 5.7 points, 4.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds. Before that, as a sophomore at UNC Charlotte, Khalifa — a native of Alexandria, Egypt — averaged 11.6 points and 6.3 boards per contest.
“It’s a learning experience at the end of the day,” Khalifa said at Louisville’s media day, referring to playing against KU. “It’s just an exhibition. Obviously, they’ve got a very good team, a ranked team. Kansas is a very good historical basketball school. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to play the best.
“Playing Kansas the first game, just to be able to test ourselves against one of the best teams … at the end of the day it’s a learning experience.”
Brown has compared Khalilfa to Denver Nuggets standout Nikola Jokic for his ability to pass the basketball.
“I can’t wait,” Bidunga said of the exhibition game and possibly facing Khalifa.
KU has been practicing since late September, anxiously awaiting its first game against another team.
“I’m really excited,” Bidunga said. “As a team, we’ve been working on stuff and I can’t wait to just get out there and play.”
KU has played a road exhibition against top competition in each of the last two seasons. In 2023, the Jayhawks lost to Illinois, 82-75. Last year, KU fell to Arkansas, 85-69, in Fayetteville. KU did not have starter Hunter Dickinson for the latter contest.
“(It’s) super important,” said KU senior Tre White, who played at Louisville during the 2023-24 season. He averaged 12.3 points per game that year after playing at USC (2022-23) and before playing at Illinois (2024-25).
“I feel no matter who the team is we play,” White said, “I feel like getting that ‘W’ for our first game would definitely help us with confidence, but also learning from it as well.”
KU is slated to return from Kentucky via charter late Friday night after the exhibition game. KU’s second and final exhibition is Tuesday against Fort Hays State (7 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse).
The Jayhawks first regular-season game is Nov. 3 against Green Bay at Allen Fieldhouse. Tipoff time for the game against former Oklahoma State guard Doug Gottlieb’s second Green Bay team is 7 p.m.
This story was originally published October 23, 2025 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Prep rivals Darryn Peterson (of Kansas) & Brown (Louisville) meet again on Friday."
