Koa Peat's brother enters transfer portal

Many insiders felt the Arizona State Sun Devils were the frontrunners to land five-star class of 2025 basketball recruit Koa Peat.

One of the primary reasons was the influence of Koa's older brother, Keona. A 6-foot-2, 265-pound offensive lineman, Keona recently completed his second season with ASU's football team.

But when Koa committed to Arizona State's rival, the Arizona Wildcats, on March 27, it sent the latest in a long line of signals that Bobby Hurley's program is running on fumes.

The Peat brothers went to high school in Arizona State's backyard. After Koa took an official visit to Arizona State in early September and was in attendance for ASU football's season-opening 48-7 win over Wyoming, ASU football coach Kenny Dillingham went out of his way to stress how important the Peat brothers were to ASU.

"Him and his family are really important to ASU and ASU athletics," Dillingham said about Keona Peat in September. "His brother's a high school coach out here. Awesome guy. Their family is born and raised here. He's one of the family members who chose to stay in the state here, which is pretty cool."

On Saturday, Keona Peat officially entered the transfer portal.

"Thank you to Coach Kenny Dillingham for the opportunity to be a Sun Devil, and a special thank you to Coach Tuitele for helping me pefect my craft and grow as a man," Keona wrote on social media. "Your guidance means the world. With that being said, I've entered the transfer portal with three years of eligibility. I'm grateful for my time at ASU and will always carry it with me."

It's not a huge loss for Dillingham in terms of roster depth, but it's a massive missed opportunity for ASU to hang onto big-time local talent.

Keona, who will be a redshirt sophomore next season, is projected to land at Arizona with his brother. If he does, that would give the Wildcats' football program 22 players from the Phoenix area on their roster.

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