Arizona forward Koa Peat was named one of the top 10 freshmen nationally by Andy Katz of NCAA.com. Peat is one of four freshmen in the Big XII named among the top 10 nationally by Katz. A.J. Dybantsa of BYU and Darryn Peterson of Kansas are the only Big XII freshmen ranked ahead of Peat by Katz.
Katz has Dybantsa as his top-ranked freshman nationally entering the 2025-26 season, but the Big XII chose Peterson as their Preseason Freshman of the Year in the conference. Houston center Chris Cenac Jr. is ninth on the NCAA.com top freshman list and Connecticut guard Braylon Mullins is 10th.
Arizona is at Connecticut on November 18, plays at BYU on January 26 and hosts the Cougars on February 18, is at Kansas on February 9 before hosting the Jayhawks on February 28 and playing Houston on February 21.
Peat scored 10 points on five of seven from the field with three rebounds, two assists and two blocks in the season-opening 81-68 exhibition win over St. Mary's on October 18. In the 113-42 exhibition win over Embry-Riddle on Monday, Peat scored six points on 3-4 from the field with five rebounds and three assists.
First-year phenoms 🤩@TheAndyKatz ranks the 🔟 best freshmen in the nation 👀 pic.twitter.com/Wt5nNybsR7
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) October 28, 2025
Peat played 23 minutes against St. Mary's and 10 against Embry-Riddle. St. Mary's has played in the last four NCAA Tournaments. Embry-Riddle is an NAIA program in Prescott. The rotation Tommy Lloyd used against St. Mary's is more indicative of the minutes Arizona players will receive early in the 2025-26 season.
Peat started against St. Mary's but came off the bench against Embry-Riddle. Expect Peat to receive minutes at both forward spots throughout the season. Lloyd has the option of utilizing a jumbo lineup of 6'8, 250-pound Tobe Awake at power forward and 7'2, 260-pound Motiejus Krivas at center.