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There are often mirages in the desert. Illusions of what might be out there below the ceaseless sun. Promises whispered by the wind, telling weary travelers that an oasis lies just beyond the dunes. But they find nothing. Waiting for them is just more unforgiving desert.
In the heart of Sonoran Desert, though, is a group that moves with ease. They command the heat. Together, they remain unbeaten—the Arizona Wildcats.
They move in unison with uncommon loyalty. Family is a constant of this squad. Family isn’t just in the same name they each wear across their chest. Family is in their collective actions.
Above the arid wasteland, three of them peer down on worn-out wanderers as towering contours. The wild shades of the sunset blaze behind them, a trio alit by the sparkling desert dusk.
In the middle of the trio is Jaden Bradley. At 22 years old, he holds a well-earned knowledge that doesn’t even require words to communicate. His group follows where he goes no matter what.
To Bradley’s left is Koa Peat. The 19-year-old stands high on the mounds of sand at 6-8. Athletically gifted, his explosiveness is underscored by a patient demeanor and a considered approach.
To Bradley’s right is Brayden Burries. The 6-4, 20-year-old waits calmly atop the embankment. At his disposal is a youthful pace, but he often waits to employ it.
This is the triumvirate guarding the desert, unleashing its power at their will. They’ve been extremely successful at it so far. As of this writing at the end of January, their dominance cannot be questioned. They haven’t lost once.
Behind Bradley’s leadership, the squad can venture far from the desert and conquer any environment. They stormed into UConn and walked out of the snowy Northeast with a statement win.
“He impresses me every day, honestly, especially in practice, but I think in a game, was probably at UConn when he hit that step through layup to, you know, kind of, take over the game and send them out of there,” Peat says about Bradley.
“It was lit,” Peat continues, on the aftermath of that moment. “It was crickets in there for sure,” he says about Gampel Pavilion.
“To win a national championship, to win a conference championship, it’s done on the road,” Bradley says. “So to go in there and just do what we did versus the top teams, I feel like that shows a lot about our team and our character.”
Bradley’s massive layup against the Huskies put the Wildcats up by 3 in the decisive moments of that matchup. It was a declaration—this is Bradley’s year. He was a five-star recruit coming out of high school, which took him from North Carolina to Florida. Though he started his collegiate journey with Alabama, he hadn’t forgotten about the other school that was recruiting him so heavily. That was the school in the desert, the school who wanted him to lead their program. He found his way to the Wildcats in 2023, and he’s been building ever since. His prowess in the clutch speaks for itself, as does the rest of his time on the floor. He leads the team in minutes, assists and steals, like a true throwback floor general. His most unquantifiable value, however, comes in the form of the ever-present desert heat. He’s always there, the foundation of what the desert and the program are known for. Relentless. All surrounding. At times, inescapable.
The steadfast desert heat gets accompanied by a rare, cool wind in the evening. It comes along as it pleases and dots the desert with gusts of overwhelming strength. It’s how freshman Brayden Burries plays, perfectly exemplified by his game-saving block against BYU. He swiftly flew in from the right wing, zooming down the paint, shrinking the distance in just four blinding steps and denying the Cougars their chance. Buried under this burst of brilliance, BYU lost because of Burries.
“They surmounted a hard charge at the end,” Wildcats’ head coach Tommy Lloyd said to the media after the game. “I didn’t think it was gonna get to that point, but it did. They had the ball with 11 seconds to go, down 1. And Brayden came up with a big-time defensive play. We got the rebound and made two free throws. It’s a big-time finish for us.”
The “we” and the “us” in Coach’s words is a little deceptive. It wasn’t exactly “we” and “us.” It was Burries. He got the block, recovered the loose ball and sunk two free throws, giving him 29 points in total, the most of anyone in the entire contest.
Bradley played well throughout the night, and high profile talent on the other side was the talk of the broadcast. Yet there it was at the end of the contest, as the evening rolled in, a flurry that shook everything…Burries as the cold wind of the desert, forcing everyone to run and hide.
He’s not the only freshman drawing on the power of the AZ wilderness. An imposing mountain of sand sustains through the heat and the wind, unmovable, built on the bedrock underneath the coarse and static peak: Koa Peat.
Peat, an Arizona native, is the youngest of seven kids. His siblings are known on both collegiate and professional gridirons and basketball courts. It might, however, be the family’s neophyte who ends up having the greatest impact. With foundations so deeply rooted in the desert, there’s nobody else who understands its combined strength.
“I always have big expectations for myself, especially coming from a family like I come from,” Peat says. “They told me to keep my head straight and just keep working, not get too high or get too low. So [I’m] kind of just staying in the moment and just I’m happy with my team's success. That's the main thing.”
Peat’s significance to the main thing is obvious. World-class athleticism, a smooth touch on his jumper and a steady mindset betray his freshman status. He plays far beyond his years and doesn’t seem to get rattled. Always unmovable.
It may look like a mirage. It may not seem real. But the best team in the nation has the might of the desert within their grasp, and they’re overpowering everyone with the heat, the wind and the sand.
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