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03/30 14:28 CDT Freshman Koa Peat helps carry Arizona into the Final Four of
March Madness
Freshman Koa Peat helps carry Arizona into the Final Four of March Madness
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) --- Koa Peat has been a winner throughout his basketball
career.
He won four state titles in high school in Arizona and became the first player
to win four international gold medals at the junior level. So when Arizona
coach Tommy Lloyd was trying to entice Peat to play for the Wildcats, he
pitched him on helping the school end a 25-year Final Four drought.
"That was my recruiting pitch," Lloyd said. "Four, four, and four. Let's do it.
The dude, he's amazing. His ability to perform the way he did in these moments,
you know, he's been in a lot of them."
Peat fulfilled the wish in his first season with Arizona, leading the Wildcats
to their first Final Four since 2001 with a memorable performance in the West
Region of the NCAA Tournament. Arizona will take on Michigan in the national
semifinals on Saturday in Indianapolis.
Peat scored 21 points in a Sweet 16 victory over Arkansas and added 20 more in
the Elite Eight against Purdue to win the Most Outstanding Player of the region
and become just the sixth freshman ever to score at least 20 points in wins in
those two rounds, according to Sportradar. Peat joined a list with Kon
Knueppel, Derrick Rose, Joseph Forte, Jalen Rose and Kenny Anderson.
Now Peat will try to do what those precocious stars couldn't and win Arizona's
second national title to go with the one from 1997 when Mike Bibby was the star
freshman on coach Lute Olson's squad.
"I saw a lot of the past legends that played for Arizona, and Mike Bibby, he
was a big mentor to me," Peat said. "He went to the Final Four, won the
championship. When you put on the Arizona jersey, you know you're playing for
people that played before you. So it's bigger than yourself; it's the program."
Peat arrived at Arizona last fall as a five-star recruit and has delivered on
all the high expectations that come with it.
He scored 30 points in the opener in a win against defending-champion Florida,
had 16 points and 12 rebounds in a nonconference win over Connecticut and
returned after missing three games in February to score 21 points in the Big 12
title win against Houston.
"Just going out there, playing my game, trusting my teammates, them finding me
in open spots, and staying the course," he said. "Just keep playing. That's
really it."
Peat hadn't followed the March struggles of Arizona's basketball program
closely despite growing up in the state. He spent more time watching his four
older brothers play football and two older sisters play basketball.
Peat could have followed the family path in football with his father, Todd,
having played nine seasons in the NFL and his brother, Andrus, having just
finished his 10th season in the NFL.
"I played a lot of sports growing up, baseball, football and basketball. So
from a young age I was playing a lot of sports, around a lot of athletes in my
family," Koa said. "But honestly, I just truthfully fell in love with
basketball. Especially during quarantine, all I was doing was training and just
working out and really working on my body. I slimmed down a little bit, and I
just thought basketball was like the best choice for me. Especially now you
could play a long time playing basketball. Football's a different story. I had
great support from my family members in my choice in playing basketball, and I
think I've made the right choice, for sure."
The Wildcats sure think so, and now they wouldn't still be playing without him.
"They call him Mr. Arizona," Lloyd said. "Koa is special."
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and
coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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