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Koa Peat 'fully focused' on NBA draft, not ruling out Arizona return
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- Koa Peat 'fully focused' on NBA draft, not ruling out Arizona return
CHICAGO — Because he was stationed in a hotel ballroom where media could also interview 12 other top 2026 NBA Draft prospects during a 20-minute session, Koa Peat faced waves of different reporters … and gently pushed them all back.
On five occasions when asked about his impending stay-or-go decision, the Arizona freshman said only that he was currently focused on the NBA draft, though he stopped short of ruling out a return to the Wildcats next season.
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Projected in the middle to late portions of the first round if he stays in the NBA draft pool, Peat has one of the most impactful decisions left to be made — for the draft itself, and for Arizona 's 2026-27 roster.
So it went like this:
Reporter:"Have you closed the door on returning to Arizona? Is that still an option?"
Peat:"I'm fully focused on the NBA draft."
Reporter:"Is there anything feedback-wise (from NBA executives) you would need to hear one way or another?"
Peat:"Right now, I'm just focused on the NBA draft."
After Peat went on to discuss his family, growing up in Arizona and other topics for the next five minutes, somebody else stepped up to Peat's interview table.
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Next reporter:"Are you 100% committed to the draft this year?"
Peat:"Right now, I'm focused on the draft, trying to see how good I can get in this process."
Next reporter, following up:"How much is NIL factoring into the decision?" (Peat could earn roughly the same amount next season either in the NBA or college, likely somewhere in the $3 million neighborhood based on draft and NIL projections).
Peat:"I haven't really thought about that that much. I'm just focused on getting better every day. Just trying to have my best interviews with these teams, and trying to have good workouts."'
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Then, for the following eight minutes, Peat discussed his game, the predraft process, comparable NBA players, UA teammate Brayden Burries ("he's a special, special player, as well as a special person off the court," Peat said) before the topic came up yet again.
Another reporter:"Where are you with your stay-or-go decision?"
Peat:"Right now, I'm focused on the draft."
Another reporter, following up:"Is there any chance you'd go back to school?"
Peat:"Right now, I'm focusing on the draft."
If there's any consolation for word-parsing media and fans, it's that NBA teams are getting exactly the same vibe. An NBA scout on hand at Wintrust Arena told the Star that Peat is telling teams when they interview him only that he's "focused on the draft," and declining to say whether he's definitely staying in the draft.
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Also, at least, Peat did appear to acknowledge that he had a stay-or-go decision to make when asked how his discussions with UA staffers have been during the predraft process.
"They've been going good," Peat said. Coach "Tommy (Lloyd) says he's supporting me whatever I do. He's always going to support me. He's happy with whatever I do."
That much has been clear in actions by the UA staff. Several of them were around the Combine earlier in the week, while Lloyd was scheduled to appear on Thursday, May 14.
"With Koa, man, we're just here supporting him," UA assistant coach T.J. Benson said. "Everything from the jump has been (being) 100% committed to the draft, go through the process, get your feedback. And you know what? If you're a top 20 guy, you gotta go. But at the end of the day, it's on him.
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"We're not pushing anything, any kind of narratives or anything like that. What these guys are trying to do is not easy."
But, Peat says, it is fun. Peat said it was "really cool" to go through the predraft process with players he had grown up with, and talking to teams.
While he struggled in shooting drills early in the week, shooting 50% off the dribble but only 28.0% in the 3-point star drill and 24.0% in a spot-up shooting at 24.0%, Peat shrugged it off.
"I didn't shoot it well on Monday but if you have bad shooting days, sometimes you can't really get too high or too low about it," Peat said. "I'm just continuing to work on that, not letting it try to consume me, knowing that I can do other things on the court to affect the game, affect winning. I feel like I've won my whole career, and I feel like I can do that at the NBA stage, as well."
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After shooting 53.8% from two-point range at Arizona in 2025-26, mostly within 15 feet of the basket, Peat said he has been working out in Los Angeles with player development coach Chris Johnson.
Peat said he's been working on both his midrange shooting and his 3-point shooting, along with ballhandling and conditioning, but said he wasn't necessarily trying to change his shooting mechanics all that much.
"I feel like my mid-range is kind of the same," Peat said. "I've always had a higher release in the mid range. For my 3, I'm trying to get it down a little bit lower, to get more arc."
Besides, Peat said, there was development during his freshman season at Arizona. He called Lloyd "the best coach in the country" and shouted out Benson, a fellow Phoenix-area native, for his help along the way.
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Peat wound up averaging 14.1 points and 5.6 rebounds as a freshman for the Wildcats while losing all of three games, including one against Texas Tech in which he left early with a leg injury.
"It super special to be from Arizona, go there, take them to a Final Four, the first one in 25 years," Peat said. And "being coached by Tommy was super special. TJ, that's my guy, to be in the gym with him every day. He really helped me a lot with my development and just becoming a better man on and off the court."
All that helped bring Peat to the doorstep of the NBA draft, projected to land somewhere in the mid-teens to late 20s. He'll have until May 27, the withdrawal deadline to return to college, to decide whether to jump in.
Until then, the buzz might keep getting louder around him, but Peat may not hear it.
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Or at least he might not listen.
He has help with that sort of thing.
"I kind of just shut it out," he said. "I'm really just focused on the draft right now, trying to get better each and every day, just listening to my family and my circle, just let them know how I feel about everything.
"It's not that hard to do."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Koa Peat 'fully focused' on NBA draft, not ruling out Arizona return
