By Joel Herrera
Less than a month after the 2024-2025 NCAA men’s basketball season ended, the University of Arizona Wildcats have found themselves with the second best signing class nationally for the 2025 offseason. Loaded with five-star high school recruits and experienced transfers who already have ties to Tucson, head coach Tommy Lloyd has put together his best signing class since he took over the Arizona coaching position in 2021.
Looking at the high school recruiting portion of the offseason, the Wildcats signed four players, two of which were five-star recruits.
Koa Peat, a 6’7, 235 pound power forward from Gilbert, Arizona, decided to stay local for his college career, committing to Arizona back in March and signing earlier in April. Peat was named the Arizona Gatorade player of the year this past high school season and is ranked as the 10th best high school recruit according to ESPN.
There was a lot of speculation on who Peat would sign with, as he had offers from Arizona, Arizona State (which is in his hometown) and Houston (the national runner ups this past season).
While he was projected by many analysts to sign with Arizona, the anticipation was still high, especially for Arizona fans.
“Hearing about a top prospect coming to the UofA is always great news to hear as a college basketball fan,” said Arizona student and basketball fan David Thompson. “I’m excited to see him [Peat] play.”
The second five-star that signed with Arizona was shooting guard Brayden Burries out of Riverside, California. The 6’4 guard has been labeled as one of the most gifted scorers in the 2025 class and is ranked as the 12th best player out of high school nationally. Burries is from the same city as current Wildcat and former five-star recruit Carter Bryant.
Both Peat and Burries were named as McDonald’s All-Americans, a label for the top high school basketball players.
The two other high school recruits Arizona received were four star Dwayne Aristode out of Amsterdam, Netherlands and three-star Bryce James, the son of current NBA player and future hall of famer LeBron James. Aristode missed this past season due to injury, but the 6’7 small forward showed enough promise and potential for Lloyd to go out and grab him.
James, despite being the lowest ranking out of the recruits this year arguably has the biggest name. Coming from a family with already two people in the NBA, James is looking to use Arizona as a stepping stone to make it three.
The most interesting storyline from this offseason came from the transfer portal. Tucson native Evan Nelson, who has spent the past five seasons at Harvard, will be returning home to play for the team that he grew up wanting to suit up for. Graduating from Salpointe Catholic High School in 2020, Nelson played very close to the UofA campus growing up.
Nelson will most likely serve as the backup point guard for Arizona. He averaged 9.1 points per game on 45.5% shooting this past season. He also won the Arizona 4A state championship with Salpointe back in 2020.
Arizona track and field member Richard Legarra weighed in on the connection he’ll have with this recruiting class. “As a student athlete myself, I am very excited to just be in the environment with these talented players,” Legarra said. “Arizona athletics facilities always have a great atmosphere and everyone you go you can feel the energy and competitive spirit … I think it’s going to be a great year for Wildcat basketball.”
Evan Nelson during his senior season at SCHS. Photo credit to the Arizona Daily Star
These five newcomers add on to a solid group of returners from last year for the Wildcats. Overall, Arizona has now built a team with veteran experience and young talent.
Of course, the question of can this talented group take Arizona back to the Final Four remains to be seen.
Nathan Aldrich, another student at the UofA and basketball fan, summarized the success of this recruiting class. “I’m excited about the basketball program this year because I feel like we always say it’s our year, but this coming season we have a genuine chance to win at all,” Aldrich said.