"It's gonna be a fight all the way to the end": Recruiting Insider names four programs that compete for elite SF Koa Peat
After listing his top 10 schools on Jan. 11, 5-star recruit Koa Peat narrowed his list to five on Nov. 6. He made visits to Houston on Jun. 6, Arizona State on Aug. 30, Arkansas on Sep. 14, Duke on Sep. 20, Baylor on Sep. 27 and Arizona on Oct. 4.
His final five list includes Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Texas and Houston. 247Sports' Adam Finkelstein appeared with basketball analysts Travis Branham and Eric Bossi to talk about Peat's future.
"It's going to be a fight all the way to the end as Houston has done a tremendous job with them (recruitments), Baylor has been in there very deeply, but there's some some Buzz going around that they may be sliding down the leaderboard down into third but they are not out of it yet," said Branham. (3:45 - 3:59)
Branham also said that commitment news from Peat could come soon.
"I don't think we'll have to wait too much longer after the early signing period closes," he added. "There's been some momovement in his leaderboard. Obviously Duke was one that was heavily speculated but that visit was canceled and they are no longer in contention. So we are now looking the closest that Arizona, Houston, Baylor and there's been some Buzz that Texas could be a sleeper here." (3:07 - 3:30)
Koa Peat is ranked sixth in the nation, third at power forward, and first in Arizona. The Gilbert, Arizona native received 31 offers.
How good is Koa Peat?
The Perry High School forward won the 2023 Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year, averaging 20.5 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. Last season, Peat averaged a double-double with 20.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 blocks and 1.0 steals.
Peat led Team USA to three consecutive gold medals. In the 2022 FIBA Under-17 World Cup in Spain, Peat averaged 9.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists while playing 20.1 minutes per contest. He continued his streak in the 2023 FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Mexico, averaging 17.2 ppg.
He won his third gold medal in the 2024 U17 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Turkey, averaging 17.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
With Koa Peat narrowing down his list of colleges, which college do you think we will see him play for next season?