Twenty-three years after Matt Futch attended the 2003 NBA Draft to witness the Cavaliers choose his friend and Akron native LeBron James first overall, Futch will travel to the draft for a second time in anticipation of Canton native Darryn Peterson hearing his name called early in the first round on Tuesday, June 23, at Barclays Center in New York.
“How cool is that?” Futch, a former longtime Northeast Ohio high school basketball coach, said of the full-circle moment during a recent phone interview with the Beacon Journal.
A 2002 Buchtel High School graduate, Futch plays an important role in Peterson’s inner circle. Futch and Peterson’s father, Darryl Peterson II, were teammates on the University of Akron men’s basketball team. Peterson’s parents met at UA, so Futch is also a longtime friend of Peterson’s mother, Natatia Peterson.
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When Peterson was in elementary school, his dad told Futch he would have his son play for Futch in high school. Although Futch said he didn’t expect the Petersons to keep the promise several years later, the family delivered, and Peterson played for Futch as a freshman and sophomore at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy.
During Peterson’s freshman year in high school, Futch began coaching in the Phenom United AAU program founded by Darryl Peterson II. Futch resigned as CVCA’s coach last summer and has been working for the Petersons. Futch said he will become the director of Phenom United on July 1. He is also assisting Natatia Peterson with her son’s The Bucket Jones Foundation and Darryl Peterson II with the 727 Marketing Firm.
Growing up in Akron, Futch played against St. Vincent-St. Mary graduate James in high school. As an adult, Futch coached Chris Livingston at Buchtel. Livingston became a second-round NBA draft pick (No. 58 overall) in 2023. He has spent time in the NBA G League and NBA, playing for the Milwaukee Bucks and Cavs.
In other words, Futch knows an NBA talent when he sees one, and Futch saw one when CVCA played East while Peterson was a freshman. Eric Holley III was an East senior in January 2022 and would soon become the City Series player of the year in basketball after he had been voted as the league’s offensive player of the year in football. Peterson scored 25 points, Holley scored 24 and CVCA beat East 60-41.
“How Darryn approached that game and went at a more physically mature Eric Holley on the competitive side, I was like, ‘Wow! He has something,’” Futch said.
Will Darryn Peterson or AJ Dybantsa become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft?
A point guard and shooting guard, Peterson transferred from CVCA to play for Huntington Prep in West Virginia as a junior and Prolific Prep in California’s Napa Valley as a senior.
At Prolific Prep, Peterson played against forward AJ Dybantsa twice. Now they are candidates to become the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft after playing one season in college, Peterson at Kansas and Dybantsa at BYU.
The Washington Wizards have the No. 1 overall pick, followed by the Utah Jazz at No. 2, the Memphis Grizzlies at No. 3, the Chicago Bulls at No. 4 and the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 5.
Four freshmen are widely projected to become the first four picks. They are, in alphabetical order, Duke forward Cameron Boozer, Dybantsa, Peterson and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson.
Peterson won both of his matchups against Dybantsa when they were high school seniors, and Futch attended the second clash. Peterson scored 61 points and made the game-winning 3-pointer in Prolific Prep’s 88-86 victory over Utah Prep. Dybantsa had 49 points.
“I left that game almost similar to when I was able to watch LeBron and Carmelo [Anthony] play [against each other in high school],” Futch said. “I was so thrown back by what I just witnessed, not only from the level of talent that both young men had, but how Darryn elevated. Even with how good AJ is, Darryn elevated past that.”
Peterson and Dybantsa, both of whom are 19, met again last season when Kansas beat BYU 90-82. Peterson scored 18 points in 20 minutes, though he left the game early in the second half and didn’t return. Dybantsa finished with 17 points.
“Even in that game against AJ, against BYU, it’s still like [Peterson was] doing stuff out there when he’s on the court that is amazing to me,” said Futch, who played professional basketball in Portugal and Mexico after his Zips career. “It’s almost the same feel that I had when I would be in open gyms with LeBron as a professional, when I was playing actively and kind of seeing how he plays the game. It’s like, ‘Man, I’m playing with the best player on the planet right now.’ That’s how I am now looking at Darryn, like, ‘Wow! I’m witnessing something very special here.’
“I think [former St. Vincent-St. Mary] coach [Keith] Dambrot had that years ago when he was talking to some of the different basketball professionals about how good he thought LeBron was. He was hesitant at first, but I think he ultimately said, ‘You know what? We’re not going to see nothing like this ever again.’ I think he started to be confident with that. I am at the same place now to where I know whatever team [Peterson] goes to, obviously, at No. 1 and wherever — if it’s two, it’s two, but I think it’s obviously one of these first two picks of the draft here — he is going to be an instant impact.”
On June 15, ESPN’s Shams Charania and Jeremy Woo reported Peterson visited the Wizards but did not grant other teams’ requests for meetings. On the other hand, Dybantsa visited the Wizards and Jazz, according to the report. The report stated both players had belief they would be taken with the top pick held by the Wizards.
How will Darryn Peterson move forward after missing significant time during his lone Kansas season?
The Kansas-BYU matchup was one of several college games Peterson exited early. He also missed 11 games in his only season at Kansas.
The circumstances surrounding Peterson’s absences, for the most part, were shrouded in mystery because he didn’t publicly address them until late in the season. In May, Peterson told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne he had endured debilitating cramping, which he said doctors concluded through testing was the result of high doses of creatine he had consumed.
Peterson also told Shelburne a full-body cramp he suffered in September made him fear he would die and led him to be transported to a hospital by ambulance for treatment. He said the episode left him concerned whenever he felt discomfort during a Kansas game.
“It traumatized me,” Peterson later told ESPN’s Jay Bilas. “Anytime I felt anything, no matter how much I told myself it wasn’t going to happen [again], the brain works its own way.”
Peterson’s talent is undeniable, but his availability or lack thereof at Kansas raised questions throughout the 2025-26 season and pre-draft process. It also created public backlash and turned him into a target of intense criticism from fans and pundits alike. Some of them questioned whether he loved basketball. Others assumed he decided to use a load-management strategy in college while prioritizing his future in the NBA.
Futch said Peterson was relieved to finally tell his side of the story.
“The basketball world [was] like, ‘Wow! This kid is good, but why is he not playing? Why is he not out there?’” Futch added. “So, now people wanted more, and I think you know how that goes. When people want to see more and then they don’t know, and then Darryn, at the time, one, he’s not a talkative person, and then, two, I think by advice of the adults in the room, one, he couldn’t share as much as he probably wanted to and then, two, he was advised not to share until the time was right.
“I think his timing was the right timing. Unfortunately, I think people that are in the media and things like that kind of took some things out of context and made a thing of it. And one thing I was able to share with Darryn was with the ability and the skills and the God-given talent and maybe the tag of, hey, being ‘the guy,’ you’re going to get that level of scrutiny and praise, and you have to be able to withstand both. I think he learned that. I think he got a chance to witness that during the draft combine [in May] when he had to go through the media interviews, the team interviews and preparing for that. And, so, I think with all of that, you get a chance to learn how to be a professional.”
An honorable mention on the Associated Press All-America team last season, Peterson has carried pro-athlete expectations on his shoulders for years, and part of it stems from being raised in an ultra-competitive family. His older brother, Darryl Peterson III, starred in football at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron and then at Wisconsin before signing in April with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free-agent outside linebacker.
Members of Peterson’s support system will attend the draft at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center while others gather for a watch party hosted by The Bucket Jones Foundation at UnionPark Coffee and Cocktails in Canton.
“This is just what I’ve been preparing for my whole life,” Peterson told Bilas. “It’s my destiny.”
From Futch’s perspective, Peterson being drafted will only enhance Northeast Ohio’s hoops legacy.
“It says a lot about our brand of basketball here,” Futch said.
Darryn Peterson stats
Here are some stats from Peterson’s high school and college days:
Darryn Peterson height, weight
Peterson measured 6 feet, 4½ inches without shoes and weighed 199 pounds in May at the NBA Draft Combine.
What day is the NBA draft 2026?
Darryn Peterson draft watch party information
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Canton’s Darryn Peterson will make ‘instant impact’ in NBA, coach says
Reporting by Nate Ulrich, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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By Nate Ulrich, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
