Arizona’s Koa Peat talks sharing the limelight with Darryn Peterson

Story by

Lorenzo J Reyna, ClutchPoints

Fri, Mar 20, 2026 ·

2 min read

Arizona’s Koa Peat talks sharing the limelight with Darryn Peterson appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

Darryn Peterson of Kansas headlines the future NBA star power in San Diego for March Madness . Arizona basketball freshmen Koa Peat set the tone for the quartet of Friday games in San Diego, though.

Peat pounded Long Island University with his 6-foot-8, 235-pound frame to score 15 points in his NCAA Tournament debut. The top-seeded Wildcats rolled to the 92-58 walloping of the Sharks inside Viejas Arena. Peat became a part of this impressive shooting mark alongside the other freshmen on the Wildcats.

Peat also ignited the sea of red that came via Tucson with this thunderous alley-oop dunk.

Peat doesn’t carry the star power attached to Peterson. Yet he shares ties to him beyond graduating from the same high school class.

Arizona’s Koa Peat on being in same arena with Darryn Peterson

Peat is perfectly fine with being the non-biggest freshmen star in the same arena. He had praise for a talent he called his former roommate.

“That’s my guy. I was teammates with him and roommates with him. It’s always cool to see other people in my class doing well and succeeding,” Peat said inside Arizona’s locker room.

Both played on the AAU circuit together and other club basketball ventures. Peat adds to a stacked freshmen class featuring Peterson, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Houston’s Kingston Flemings and Duke’s Cameron Boozer . And all are competing in their first March spectacle.

Yet there are fans especially on Arizona’s side who believes Peat deserves just as much praise as Peterson. Does the Arizona forward concur, though?

“I’m just trying to play my game here. I’m not worried about what’s in the media,” Peat said.

Peat overcame an early March injury to be with the Wildcats . He handled the inside dirty work for AZ, which now awaits Villanova or Utah State Sunday.