Projected top-3 pick Darryn Peterson says high doses of creatine led to cramping issues
Front office personnel have told NBC Sports they were not that concerned about Peterson's issues but wanted to see medical reports.
Health concerns that had Darryn Peterson yo-yoing in and out of the Kansas lineup last season may have cost him being the No. 1 pick (that and a strong AJ Dybantsa season). Of particular concern were the early exits due to a mysterious cramping issue — several times during the season, Peterson checked himself out of games early due to cramping.
Including against Dybantsa and BYU. Peterson believes he found the reason: high doses of creatine, he told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN . "I'd never taken it before [going to college]," Peterson said.
"But after the season I took two weeks off and they did tests which showed my baseline level was already high. So, they said when I dosed [a process of increasing a dose over time to create maximum benefit at the beginning of taking a supplement], it must've made the levels unsafe. " Creatine is a popular supplement of a naturally occurring amino acid, with research finding it can help add and maintain muscle mass, improve performance in high-level athletes, and support injury prevention and recovery.
There is anecdotal evidence that very high levels of creatine (often with some dehydration) can lead to cramping, but studies have not yet verified that. Peterson talked with ESPN about being hospitalized in September with intense full-body cramping during a particularly strenuous preseason workout — and that experience had him concerned all season about a repeat of that moment. It's not an accident that Peterson, by nature a reserved person, spoke publicly in the run-up to the draft, trying to address a major concern about him.