Arizona forward Koa Peat declares for 2026 NBA Draft

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - APRIL 04: Koa Peat #10 of the Arizona Wildcats looks on against the Michigan Wolverines in the Final Four of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 04, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) | Getty Images It only took one game to see that Koa Peat was not going to be play at the college level for long. And despite some ups and downs after that, the Arizona freshman is ready to begin his pro career.

class="has-text-align-none">Peat officially declared for the 2026 NBA Draft on Friday, the final day for players to apply for early entry. He is the first Wildcat from the Final Four team to declare for the draft, though at least one more is expected to do so, and marks the second one-and-done player in the Tommy Lloyd era following Carter Bryant last season.

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style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 14px; width: 144px;">The 6-foot-8, 235-pound Peat averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in his lone season with the UA, starting all 36 games he played in. The first of those, on opening night against defending NCAA champion Florida in Las Vegas, saw him score 30 points for the second-most points by a Wildcat in their collegiate debut.

class="has-text-align-none">Peat scored in double figures 29 times, reaching the 20-point mark eight times including 20 against Purdue in the Elite Eight to help the UA end a 25-year Final Four drought. He averaged 17.2 points in the NMCAA Tournament and had 21 in the Big 12 Tournament title game win over Houston.

class="has-text-align-none">A lower leg injury caused Peat to miss three games in February but he still managed to become the ninth freshman in school history to score 500 points (teammate Brayden Burries was the eighth).

Koa Peat is the 3rd freshman in UA history with 500 points, 200 rebounds and 25 blocks

The others are Deandre Ayton and Zeke Nnaji

— Brian Pedersen (@realBJP) April 5, 2026A native of Chandler, Ariz., Peat led Perry High School to four state titles and also won four gold medals playing for Team USA. The last of those was with Lloyd as coach of the squad that won the FIBA U19 World Cup.

class="has-text-align-none">Peat is projected as a first round pick in most mock NBA drafts, as are Burries and junior center Motiejus Krivas. His announcement did not mention whether he left open the possibility of returning to the UA, but if he wanted to the deadline to withdraw from the draft and maintain college eligibility is May 27.