INDIANAPOLIS — Arizona freshman power forward Koa Peat was what college basketball scouts call an early bloomer in high school. He was bigger and stronger than his peers at an early age and also more productive.
He’s the son of a former NFL offensive lineman and he looked the part even as a 15-year-old. He was physical, able to play through contact and had an early knack for getting to his spots inside of 12 feet. While he would take his conditioning and consequent athleticism to new levels in the next three years, the DNA of his game would remain largely the same.
While the productivity was undeniable, early bloomers don’t always pan out long term. In fact, the typical rule of thumb is that they follow a law of diminishing returns as other players start to catch-up physically.
So, when Peat didn’t grow more than another inch in his last three years in high school or extend his game out to the 3-point line, it was somewhat predictable that others began to surpass him in the recruiting rankings. Many of those same names – BYU‘s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas‘ Darryn Peterson, Duke‘s Cameron Boozer, Arkansas‘ Darius Acuff, Tennessee‘s Nate Ament, North Carolina‘s Caleb Wilson and Louisville‘s Mikel Brown – remain ahead of him on NBA Draft board.
That slight has been something that Peat has talked openly about at times and is undeniably motivated by.
«I feel like I’ve been kind of forgotten,» Peat said earlier this season. «I’m just trying to remind people and show them what I’m all about.»
When he opened his college career at Arizona with the same type of dominant first impression that he did his grassroots career, with a 30-point performance in a victory against Florida, the reigning national champion, he re-inserted himself into that discussion and expectations changed virtually overnight.
For Peat, that might have felt like a blessing at the time, but in retrospect, it may have ended up being more of a curse. He was never going to be able to compete with the scoring totals of someone like Dybantsa or Acuff, nor was he going to show the glaring upside of the likes of Peterson or Wilson.
As those players found stardom and headlines throughout the course of this season, Arizona just kept winning, even as Peat navigated through individual inconsistencies. He hasn’t scored 30 points in a game since opening night. It took more than two months to get 20 in a game again. In February he missed three games with a lower leg muscle strain and while that was a setback, it also masked some of his low points on the season. He had just six points on 2-of-11 shooting at Kansas. He only scored four points in 29 minutes against Iowa State and was visibly frustrated.
More recently though, the 6-foot-8, 235-pound Peat has found his stride and is playing his best basketball of the season during March Madness. He’s back to 100% healthy, had 21 points and six rebounds in the Big 12 Tournment championship game and is now averaging nearly 18.0 points and 7.0 rebounds through four NCAA Tournament games.
The root of that comes down to confidence and a willingness to play to his strengths, just as he did in the beginning of the season. After trying to incorporate more 3-point shooting into his attack in January, Peat has now attempted a total of two 3-pointers in his last 13 games. Peat has gone back to the basics. He’s short-rolling out of ball-screens, getting downhill off the dribble, attacking the offensive glass, finishing inside and showing some of his patented high released mid-range pull-ups. We’re even seeing more playmaking and passing.
As a result, Arizona is in the Final Four here in Indianapolis, the same place where he announced his arrival to the grassroots world four years ago. Simultaneously, those other freshmen who came into the season ranked ahead of him are all done now. Ultimately, that’s where Peat can separate himself. The player who won four high school state championships and four gold medals with USA Basketball is now competing for an NCAA Tournament title.
If Arizona is to win two more games, the Wildcats may not need him to be their leading scorer. What they will undoubtedly need though is him to be his most impactful and efficient self, playing to his strengths and continuing to impact the game in the ways he’s uniquely able to.
As far as how his most recent run will translate to NBA Draft boards? That conversation can wait until after Monday’s NCAA Tournanent championship game. He has more important things to attend to until then.
