Koa Peat, Jaden Bradley named to NCAA Tournament West All-Region Team

The Arizona Wildcats advanced to their first Final Four since 2001 after defeating Purdue Saturday in the Elite Eight, and freshman Koa Peat and senior Jaden Bradley were honored for their performances in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament.

Both players were selected to the 2026 West All-Region Team, with Peat earning the Most Outstanding Player distinction across four games.

In his 31 minutes played per game, Peat averaged 17.5 points (54.2% shooting), 6.8 rebounds and two assists. The 6-foot-8 Chandler native turned up his scoring intensity a notch, having averaged just under 14 points per game in the regular season.

He shot the ball an efficient 17 for 29 (58.6%) in Arizona’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games against Arkansas and Purdue, respectively, leading the Wildcats with 20 points in Saturday’s win.

“They call him Mr. Arizona. Koa is special, and I know you guys hear it, but you got to hear it again,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said postgame Saturday. “Four state championships at the same high school. … Four gold medals with USA Basketball. … And he helped lead Arizona to a Final Four.

“That was my recruiting pitch. ‘Four, four and four. Let’s do it.’ The dude, he’s amazing.”

Peat previously earned All-Big 12 Third Team honors following the conclusion of conference play, shooting above a 50% clip (53%) in that 31-game sample size.

Bradley saw 33.5 minutes per game in this portion of Arizona’s NCAA Tournament run, averaging 13.3 points (44.7% shooting), 2.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists. The Big 12 Player of the Year made all six of his free-throw attempts Saturday and only turned it over once in 39 minutes.

The 6-foot-3 senior played up to par with his consistent offensive game and handled the ball cleanly to the tune of six turnovers across four games and 134 minutes.

He hasn’t had a viral moment like his buzzer-beating game-winner in the Big 12 Tournament semifinal against Iowa State, but Bradley still has been vital in these past few second halves. The senior pitched in 10 of his 14 points in the second half of the Elite Eight, seven of his 14 in the Sweet 16 against Arkansas and 12 of his 18 in the second round versus Utah State.

“He’s just become a refined basketball player. For a guy like him when maybe things don’t happen as fast as you want, to be steadfast and continue to work and get better, it says a lot about their character,” Lloyd said after the Big 12 Tournament title game against Houston. “This guy’s going to play basketball for a lot of years to come. And he’s going to have a great career.”

Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith and Texas’ Tramon Mark rounded out the all-region team.

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