The month of November continued to bring good news on the recruiting front for Kansas men’s basketball on Sunday.
With a commitment from marquee guard Darryn Peterson already on the books, the Jayhawks made a big addition to their frontcourt for the 2025-26 season.
Samis Calderon, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward from Espirito Santo, Brazil, signed on Wednesday afternoon to join KU next year.
“Samis is a guy we have been very excited about the last several months,” KU coach Bill Self said in a press release. “He has great size at 6-foot-8 and he can play multiple positions on the perimeter. Samis has a really nice shooting touch that can stretch the defense.”
Calderon, who plays in the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite competition, averaged 14.5 points and 11.0 rebounds in a span of four preseason games this year for Cold Hearts. Last year he put up 6.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per game during the regular season before posting back-to-back double-doubles in a playoff series.
Calderon recently debuted in On3’s top 150 players and was the highest-ranked debutant in the rankings at No. 63. He has a four-star ranking from 247Sports (No. 67 in the country) and is not yet ranked by Rivals.
Eric Bossi of 247Sports wrote of the Brazilian forward, “Athletic, strong, versatile and tough at 6-foot-8, Calderon is an energy guy and coaches love that he’s about the little things and doesn’t worry too much about racking up stats.”
According to his OTE bio, “Calderon quickly established himself as one of the Cold Hearts best wing stoppers as he would match up with the opposing team’s best wing scorer in most games.” He previously played for Corinthians in São Paulo, Brazil.
“Samis has been trained well at OTE (and) that should make the transition into major college basketball somewhat seamless,” Self added. “Coach (Kurtis) Townsend has done a terrific job on recruiting Samis. We feel his best ball is ahead of him.”
Calderon came to KU for the Jayhawks’ season opener against Howard. He also visited Auburn, Michigan and Tennessee, per posts on his Instagram.
The Jayhawks will have plenty of room for additional frontcourt depth next season after KJ Adams and Hunter Dickinson graduate. Flory Bidunga and Zach Clemence will be able to return for the 2025-26 campaign.
Peterson signs too
Later on Wednesday afternoon, the Jayhawks officially signed Peterson, the consensus No. 3 player in the country, to their roster for next year.
Permitted for the first time to talk about his new guard from Ohio, Self did not mince words, calling Peterson “as important as any recruit we have recruited in recent memory” and his signing “one of the best recruiting moments that Kansas basketball has had in decades.”
“Darryn is an all-around guard that scores at all levels and is also a terrific facilitator and defender,” Self continued. “He has been well drilled and has a toughness about him being raised in a family where his brother (Darryl) is a successful football player at Wisconsin.”
As KU continues to build toward its future rosters, Self suggested that Peterson could be “a catalyst to draw other players to our program.”
Overtime Elite
