Arizona hardly only team courting 5-star prospect Koa Peat, who, so far, is rising to the hype

College basketball coaches are permitted to directly contact recruits beginning on June 15 before the athlete's junior year in high school. 

That entire construct is something of a quaint notion when it comes to Koa Peat.

The Gilbert Perry High School five-star forward from the class of 2025 has been recruited heavily for years already, through whatever channels necessary. He even received a scholarship offer from ASU as an eighth grader and picked up one from US before he began playing for Perry as a freshman along with now-UA forward Dylan Anderson.

But, well, sure, of course: As a rising junior now, Peat’s phone blew up on June 15 anyway.

“Obviously my phone's been ringing a little bit,” Peat said last weekend at the Section 7 high school showcase in Glendale. “I’m just trying to take in what the coaches have to say and it's been great. It's a blessing and a curse to have so many schools looking at you. But then at the end, you’ve got to pick where you're gonna go.”

Not surprisingly, Arizona is hoping Peat chooses the Wildcats. UA coach Tommy Lloyd and his staff watched Peat at the Section 7 event last weekend and established a relationship even before they were allowed to directly reach out to him, hosting Peat for UA’s win over Tennessee at McKale Center last season.

“It’s a great program,” Peat said. “Coach Tommy Lloyd and all their assistants are great. Great school. I’ve been there (for Tennessee) and it was a crazy environment.”

It was a different sort of crazy last weekend when Lloyd’s staff watched Peat, who opened with two games on a showcase court in the middle of State Farm Stadium. Perry beat New Orleans Isidore Newman 75-59 on Friday afternoon but then lost to Utah Alta High School 60-57 on Saturday before losing two ensuing games also by single digits.

“They were a great team,” Peat said of Alta, which went 3-1, losing only to fellow UA target Brayden Burries and Roosevelt High of Corona, Calif. “We came out a little bit slow, not how we did (against Isidore Newman) but we got better as the game went on. It’s tough on your body but you gotta keep grinding.”

Perry and Peat had an excuse. While Perry had been practicing for the last month, it did so without Peat most of the time because he was busy leading USA Basketball to a gold medal in the FIBA U16 Americas Championship at Merida, Mexico from June 5-11.

Peat said he tried to take a week off after returning home but it didn’t help all that much.

“I had to come back and practice with my team, so it wasn’t really a break,” Peat said. “My leg is kind of dead right now but I’m just trying to fight through it, get recovered.”

For Peat, and USA Basketball, it was probably worth it.

Peat led USA’s U16 team in scoring with 17.2 points and was second in rebounding at 8.3, playing alongside other five-star talent such as the Boozer twins (Cameron and Cayden) plus UA recruiting targets Brandon McCoy (a 2026 guard) and JJ Mandaquit (a 2025 guard).

The U16 Americans won all six games by no fewer than 35 points and were so dominant in a 118-36 win over Canada in the gold medal game on June 11, that Peat was asked to play just 16 minutes … but still collected 11 points and six rebounds.

“It was great to go out and represent your country, play against the best players in the world, and in practice, play against the best players in the country,” Peat said. “It was great. It got me better for sure.”

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Harrington, Burries in demand

Two of UA’s other top 2025 domestic recruiting targets, Burries and five-star guard Elzie Harrington of California's St. John Bosco also found things a little different on June 15.

Harrington said his father, a UCLA professor, has tried to keep recruiting off his plate but couldn’t escape it after coaches could try him directly.

“My dad just wanted me to focus on development so I wasn't really worried about all that,” Harrington said. “But the morning of the 15th, that was crazy. I mean, I was the first time I've ever experienced anything like that.”

Already planning to visit Harvard and acknowledging that Bruins coach Mick Cronin is predictably working his father, Harrington said he also heard directly from Arizona, Oregon, UConn and many other Pac-12 schools on the 15th. Harrington said UA coaches texted him, indicating they wanted to build a relationship.

Burries, meanwhile, said college coaches have “been texting left and right” since June 15.

“It was way more than I expected,” Burries said.

Saying he has received scholarship offers from ASU, Washington, Kansas and UCLA since June 15, the 6-4 combo guard said he heard from UA assistant coach Jack Murphy. In what could also help the Wildcats, Burries said he played club ball with UA commit Carter Bryant from ages 9-15.

“We’re very close,” Burries said.

Boswell suffers minor injury in USA win

Arizona guard Kylan Boswell limped off the court with a minor leg injury in the second half but USA still drubbed Lebanon 122-70 to finish 3-0 in pool play of the FIBA U19 World Cup at Debrecen, Hungary.

Fellow Wildcat guard Flip Borovicanin, meanwhile, had six points in Serbia's 76-65 win over Japan to help his country also finish pool play undefeated.

Boswell's loss did not prove costly for the Americans in a game when USA coach Tad Boyle of Colorado gave all 12 players double-digit minutes. Boswell collected eight points and three assists before leaving the game when he appeared to hurt himself defending a corner 3-pointer late in the third quarter.

Boswell limped quickly off the court while raising his left foot, but a USA Basketball spokesman said he would be able to play against China in the knockout round of 16 on Wednesday at 6 a.m.

Serbia will open the knockout round against Korea at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Both China and Korea were 0-3 in pool play. All FIBA games can be seen live on FIBA's YouTube channel or via archives here.

Veesaar helps Estonia to U20 win

Meanwhile, UA forward Henri Veesaar had 12 points for Estonia in a 72-65 win over Finland in its opening game of the U20 Nordic Championships in Sweden. Estonia is next scheduled to face Denmark on Thursday.

Veesaar is expected to also play for Estonia in the U20 European Championships, where incoming UA center Motiejus Krivas is scheduled to play for Lithuania.