Gilbert Perry senior forward Koa Peat, one of the top recruits in the country, announced on the Pat McAfee Show on ESPN Thursday morning that he will attend Arizona and play for Tommy Lloyd’s program.
Peat, a 6-foot-8 five-star recruit who can defend every position, made the announcement after unzipping a Perry hoodie and unveiling an Arizona t-shirt.
“I just felt Arizona was the right situation for me,” Peat said during the show. “Coach Tommy (Lloyd) is a great coach, they have great assistant coaches there for my development and they’re a winning program.”
Peat chose Lloyd and the Wildcats over Arizona State, Baylor, Houston and Texas.
He averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds for the four-time state champions. He played the last two games with a fractured shooting hand. He is expected to be fully recovered by when he attends summer workouts at McKale.
BREAKING NEWS: “I will be going to the University of Arizona” ~ @kpeat10 #PMSLive https://t.co/NhLBTa977f pic.twitter.com/ce5UJh3Swr
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 27, 2025
Arizona State was considered to be a front-runner for Peat because it is closer to where he lives and his brother Keona Peat is an offensive lineman with the Sun Devils.
Peat’s father, Todd, is a former NFL offensive lineman.
Matt Moreno of Rivals.com wrote that Peat is the cornerstone for an Arizona recruiting class that also includes five-star forward Dwayne Aristode and forward Bryce James.
“In this day and age with high-profile athletes, sometimes the family can be off a little bit,” said recently retired Perry coach Sam Duane Jr., who had eight state championships between Tempe Corona del Sol (where his legendary dad won titles as well) and Perry.
“Humble, grounded character … that’s how Koa is because of his family and the way he was raised.”
In addition to Keona, Todd Peat’s older sons played football. Todd Jr. played defensive tackle for Nebraska, Eastern Arizona College, and Texas A&M–Commerce, Andrus is an offensive tackle from Northern Illinois who was picked 13th overall in the 2015 NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints and is now a 10-year veteran following this season with the Las Vegas Raiders, and Cassius played for Scottsdale Community College.
His daughter Leilani played basketball in college with Seattle and San Francisco.
Koa Peat is known for his aggressive, physical style that falls in line with the football background in his family. He can body up post players for rebounds and disrupt guards and forwards with his tenacious defense while utilizing his foot speed and athleticism.
He has some finesse to his game with a deft shooting touch, especially from mid-range, and a keen eye for passing in transition.
Duane commented that Koa Peat has shown his versatility by defending well this season against Duke-bound power forward Nikolas Khamenia of Studio City (Calif.) Harvard-Westlake High School and Wake Forest point-guard prospect Isaac Carr of Portland (Ore.) Central Catholic High School.
“His IQ of basketball is off the charts,” Duane said. “I coached another kid, Jalen Williams of the (Oklahoma City) Thunder. I would put Jalen and Koa as my two highest players ever in IQ. He (Peat) process the game quick and he sees things on the floor.
“That’s what makes him so special.”
Peat will now cheer on with interest when No. 4 Arizona (24-12) faces No. 1 Duke (33-3) in the Sweet 16 game of the NCAA tournament East Region on Thursday night at 6:39.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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