Koa Peat has decided to leave Arizona and remain in the NBA draft, according to Jeff Borzello of ESPN. Sources tell Borzello that although Peat kept his options open for another season of college basketball, his focus over the past two months has been on staying in the draft and starting his pro career.
Peat had a productive freshman season with the Wildcats, followed by a strong NCAA tournament where he averaged 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds in five games. However, Borzello notes that his stock began to slip at the draft combine in Chicago, where he couldn’t get his shot to fall. He wound up shooting 6-of-25 in the spot-up drill and 7-of-25 in the three-point star drill, which gave him the second-worst combined performance in those two categories.
Borzello adds that Peat had a noticeably different form on his jumper that featured a slower motion and a lower release point.
“Just trying to work on that as much as I can, trying to shoot the ball the same way every time,” he told ESPN. “Trying to eliminate misses left and right, trying to miss long or short. Trying to focus on that. Not getting too consumed about it because I can do a lot of other things that affect the game, but I’m trying to work on that … I feel like that breakthrough is going to come soon.”
Peat was projected as a late first-round pick in ESPN’s most recent mock draft, going to Boston at No. 27. Jeremy Woo suggests that at 6’7″, his NBA future could be as a small-ball center.
While Peat opted to stay in the draft, most prospects who made their decisions on Wednesday chose to return to school, including Alabama’s Amari Allen, Illinois’ Andrej Stojakovic and Arkansas’ Billy Richmond as we outlined earlier. Here’s a roundup of the decisions that were announced prior to Wednesday’s 11:59 pm ET deadline for players to withdraw and maintain their college eligibility:
- Milan Momcilovic, formerly of Iowa State, will take his name out of the draft and decide on his next school, his agents tell Borzello (Twitter link). Momcilovic established himself as the best shooter in the nation last season and is considered to be the top player in the transfer portal.
- Tyler Tanner is withdrawing from the draft and will return to Vanderbilt, per Pete Thamel of ESPN (Twitter link). The point guard earned All-SEC and honorable mention All-American honors as a sophomore, averaging 19.5 points and 5.1 assists in 36 games.
- Jeremy Fears will return to Michigan State next season, agent Mike Miller tells Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Fears was a second-team All-American selection as a junior, leading Division I players in assists at 9.4 per game.
- Dennis Parker is withdrawing from the draft and will transfer from Radford to Kansas, according to Jon Chepkevich of Draft Express (Twitter link). Parker will be a senior next season.
- Finley Bizjack will forgo the draft and transfer from Butler to West Virginia for his senior season, his agents tell Chepkevich (Twitter link).
- Rowan Brumbaugh will pass up the draft and transfer from Tulane to SMU, per Chepkevich (Twitter link). Brumbaugh will be a senior next season.
- Colby Garland is staying in college and will transfer from San Jose State to Georgia Tech for his senior season, Chepkevich adds (Twitter link).
- After committing to Texas Tech, former Hofstra guard Cruz Davis will pull out of the draft and play for the Red Raiders as a redshirt senior, tweets Joe Tipton of On3. The 22-year-old was the Coastal Athletic Association’s Player of the Year in 2025/26.
- Another player staying in the draft is Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie, his agent confirms to Goodman (Twitter link). He led the ACC in scoring this season at 23.2 PPG as a freshman.
