Brayden Burries and Koa Peat have a lot to take in as freshmen with a loaded Arizona men’s basketball team. To them, they’ve already fit in and are ready to accomplish many goals this season.

The five-star prospects’ sights are focused squarely on winning, they indicated on Wednesday.

“I just feel like we’re all focused on winning. We all got that winning mentality,” Burries said.

“I think if we win and we’re good as a team, all that other stuff will take care of itself,” Peat said.

Arizona faces a tough schedule with a young squad that includes six incoming freshmen. Burries said it’ll make them and the team better as the season goes on.

“We got I think probably one of the hardest or toughest schedules out there. Feel like it’s going to be great for us. It’s going to be a test for us, and it only can get us better,” Burries said.

This will be a different Arizona team than what coach Tommy Lloyd is used to in its reliance on freshmen. Since arriving in 2021, he’s had only one freshman (Carter Bryant) selected in the NBA Draft. Despite this, Burries said his trust is in Lloyd to set the young Wildcats up for success.

“I trust that coach Lloyd is going to put us in positions to be successful and I feel like we’re going to go out there and be great,” Burries said.

Peat has spent time with Lloyd during the summer at the FIBA World Cup U19 where they won the gold. Peat said it was good to learn from his coach as he can use it when playing for Arizona.

“It was cool to see how locked in he was on everybody and just how good of a coach he was. Learning from him throughout that experience helped me when I got back to here as well,” Peat said.

Koa Peat and Brayden Burries surrounded by family in Arizona

It turns out that Peat and Burries share a lot of commonalities in background with athletic families.

Both players come from a family of athletes, including having brothers on campus they see regularly. With Peat, he has a brother that plays for Arizona’s football team.

“It’s great having a brother here with me. I see him at Bear Down Kitchen every day usually and then I’ll come back home at night and when he’s done with camp, we’ll watch a movie, play video games or something like that,” Peat said.

Peat comes from Gilbert Perry High School, and he hopes many of his friends and family from the Valley can make the trip to Tucson for some games.

Burries’ brother grew up in Arizona and is the all-time leading scorer in Arizona high school basketball. Now on the coaching staff, Burries gets inspiration from his brother constantly.

“It’s honestly great. Continue to get to know each other, push each other. Days I don’t feel like I don’t want to do something, he’s there to push me and make sure I get it done. It’s great to have somebody like that in your corner,” Burries said.

Arizona starts its season in Las Vegas against defending national champion Florida on Nov. 3.