On Thursday night, Tommy Lloyd is looking to get past the Sweet 16 for the first time in his four-year tenure as the head coach of Arizona with a win over East Region No. 1 seed Duke, but a little over nine hours before tip-off in Newark, Lloyd earned the biggest recruiting win of his career.
NEWS: 5⭐️ Koa Peat, a top-10 recruit in the country, has committed to Arizona, he tells @On3Recruits. https://t.co/W0iOdnBrwQ pic.twitter.com/FPj9uvu6bp
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) March 27, 2025
2025 five-star forward Koa Peat commits to Arizona
Koa Peat has decided to stay in state and has chosen the Wildcats over Bobby Hurley’s Sun Devils, becoming the highest-rated recruit of Lloyd’s time in Tucson. The 6-foot-8 Gilbert Arizona native is the No. 8 player in the 2025 recruiting class according to 247Sports Composite rankings and the top player in the state. He was the second-highest-rated uncommitted player in the class behind No. 4 overall recruit Nate Ament.
Peat rounds out Lloyd’s talented 2025 class that includes Bryce James, Lebron James’s youngest son. James is a three-star recruit out of Sierra Canyon High School and Lloyd also has a commitment and a signed letter of intent from four-star small forward Dwayne Aristode from New Hampshire.
Peat is a massive addition to the program, one that has thrived off adding transfer portal talent, but struck oil with four-star freshman Carter Bryant, who has spent the year shooting up draft boards with his remarkable athleticism. Retaining Bryant for his sophomore season will still be a massive offseason priority once Arizona’s season comes to an end in March Madness, but the addition of Peat eases much of that pressure and guarantees Lloyd Arizona’s first five-star recruit since Nico Mannion and Josh Green arrived in Sean Miller’s 2019 class.
Lloyd has made the Sweet 16 three times across his first four seasons, and the breakthrough may be coming on Thursday night with a veteran-laden roster led by fifth-year guard Caleb Love. However, if Lloyd once again comes up short, a hometown freshman phenom like Peat could raise the program’s ceiling heading into next season.
Bryce James will draw the most attention in Tucson next season, but Peat should be the team’s biggest star, and that combination of captivating freshmen will make Arizona a must-watch team in 2025-26.