Arizona’s Koa Peat receives attention-grabbing Mike Krzyzewski shoutout

The end of March Madness is here with the Final Four about to tip off in Indianapolis. The biggest matchup of the two games is the showdown between Arizona and Michigan. The two teams have been next to each other all year in terms of how they have played. Arizona needs its first-year students to be difference makers, and one of those freshmen is Koa Peat, who recently earned massive praise from Mike Krzyzewski.

Coach Krzyzewski was on the “Pat McAfee Show” to talk and preview what the Final Four is going to look like for each game to end March Madness. He mentioned how he thinks Koa Peat needs to be an X-factor for the Wildcats in the Final Four. He also said he thinks he has been playing great, and loves watching him, and would absolutely want to coach him if he could.

Koa Peat made an immediate impact in his first college basketball game. In a game against the defending champions, the Florida Gators, he poured in 30 points and announced himself to the rest of the college basketball world as a force and one of the best first-year students in the country.

Over the course of the season, Peat has averaged 14.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists while shooting 53.7% from the field. Peat also has the size to hold his own against Michigan, standing at 6-feet-8 and weighing 235 pounds.

He will need to be his physically dominant self against the Wolverines. After trying to incorporate more 3-point shooting into his game 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-release mid-range pull-ups. Getting back to what worked has led Arizona to the Final Four.

Other Wildcat greats like Sean Elliott, Mike Bibby, and Richard Jefferson have accomplished what Peat did this year: winning the Arizona player of the year in high school and eventually leading the UA to the Final Four. He will need to be at his best on Saturday.