Inside The Wildcats

Koa Peat Taking College Basketball World By Storm

We take a look at the start to the season for freshman Koa Peat through two games.
Ari Koslow|
Nov 3, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) celebrates a play against the Florida Gators in the second half of the Hall of Fame Series game at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images
Nov 3, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) celebrates a play against the Florida Gators in the second half of the Hall of Fame Series game at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images | Candice Ward-Imagn Images

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Arizona Wildcats

This year looks to be one of the best overall freshman classes in recent memory in college basketball with tons of freshman players making huge immediate impacts for their respective teams. One of them being Arizona's Koa Peat, who took the world by storm in the Wildcats season opening win over Florida earlier this week.

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Nov 7, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) dunks the ball during the first half of the game against the Utah Tech Trailblazers at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Through two games, Peat is averaging a team-high 24 points per game on 68 percent shooting from the field. He has also added five rebounds and four assists per game, while also contributing on the defensive side of the floor with one block and three steals through two games.

His performance against the Gators was arguably one of the best debuts by a freshman of all time with 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field, seven rebounds, five assists, one block and three steals, especially when factoring in who he was facing as Florida returned almost its entire front court from last year's national championship-winning team.

Facing arguably the best front court in the country against Florida, Peat was extremely poised and calm as the offense was often ran through him at times, which you don't see often from freshman making their collegiate debuts.

While Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries will often be the ones running the offense for Arizona, Peat has displayed the ability to have the offense run through him at times in certain matchups.

While Peat has not attempted a shot from deep yet, he has shown the ability to finish through contact at the rim, pull up from the free throw line and also act as a lob threat at the rim. The ability and playstyle he has shown through two games makes him a complete mismatch for a lot of power forwards across the country.

The non-conference schedule is only going to get more difficult for Arizona. After facing Northern Arizona on Tuesday at McKale Center, the Wildcats head on the road for back-to-back games against UCLA at the Intuit Dome and UConn in a true road game.

The Wildcats also still have non-conference games against Auburn, Alabama and San Diego State before heading into a tough conference schedule in the Big 12.

What are your thoughts on the performance of Koa Peat through the first two games this season? What are your updated thoughts on the Wildcats team as a whole this season after watching them play two games? To let us know, just click the link to find us and be sure to give us a follow while you're there.

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Ari Koslow
ARI KOSLOW

Ari Koslow is a sports writer covering the University of Arizona athletics at On SI. Koslow has been covering Arizona sports for several years. Born and raised in Seattle, he is a diehard Seahawks fan and a longtime sufferer of the Mariners. He is a huge fantasy football fanatic. Koslow is a graduate of Arizona’s School of Journalism.