NBA Mock Draft: Where Does Wildcats' Koa Peat Land?

The NBA Draft has come and gone with teams now in summer league mode and gearing up for the 2025-26 season that begins in October. 

Now, in the past draft, Arizona saw freshman Carter Bryant go No. 14 overall to San Antonio becoming the first Wildcats to get drafted by the Spurs since Sean Elliott in the 1989 draft.

In one season with the program, Bryant played a critical role off the bench as a lockdown defensive monster and averaged 6.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG and one assist while playing in 37 games and getting 19 minutes of action at a time

The key stat for Bryant in the NBA Draft was his 3-point shooting ability where he hit 37% of his attempts giving him the ability to be a 3-and-D player at the very least for his career.

Now, with the draft over, CBS Sports put together a way-too-early mock draft for the 2026 class that features another Duke prospect going No. 1 overall in Cameron Boozer and to the Utah Jazz.

Arizona was not left out of the first round action as incoming freshman Koa Peat was protected to go No. 16 overall to the Indiana Pacers, which would be the third Wildcat on the roster with TJ McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin.

Peat is part of the No. 1 recruiting class in the country heading to Arizona, which has three 5-star recruits and seven total prospects. He is the highest ranked recruit in the group sitting at No. 8 in the Rivals100 prospects rankings.

This summer, Peat and head coach Tommy Lloyd wrapped up the FIBA World Cup games winning the gold for U19 Team USA and earning his fourth gold medal to become the most decorated junior basketball player in Team USA history.

Everywhere Peat has gone, he has won. He has won four state titles and has been named Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year three times.

When looking at Arizona’s potential starting lineup, Peat seems to be a lock to get a starting role in the frontcourt alongside forward Tobe Awaka to make for a difficult duo for any opponents to go at in games.

Arizona fans can get a first look at the projected No. 16 overall pick on Oct. 3 when the team plays its annual Red-Blue Showcase with tickets already on sale at this moment.

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