Michael Zarich is a student journalist at Arizona State University assigned to cover Perry High School for AZPreps365.com

Perry has become Arizona high school boys basketball's gold standard, and is hungry for another state championship. 

The Pumas are led by the burly 6-foot-8, 235-pound five-star recruited junior small forward Koa Peat, senior guard Barron Silsby, junior guard No No Brown and three-star junior wing D'Andre Harrison.

“I’m excited to see us progress through the year, we have a really good team and if we just keep working and stay grounded we’ll be playing in that last game of the year,” Peat said. 

As the Pumas won the 2022 6A conference state championship and the inaugural 2023 Open Division title, the team has produced much Division 1 college basketball talent. That includes former All-American and Colorado freshman Cody Williams, the younger brother of ex-Perry standout and Oklahoma City Thunder's second-year starter Jalen Williams.

In addition, the Pumas were nationally ranked last season on a 32-1 record, and are 5-2 to start their 2023-24 campaign.

But for head coach Sam Duane Jr., he’s focused solely on this season and to bring another championship to Perry.

"They’re really good kids, they work really hard and they’re fun to coach,” says Perry head coach Sam Duane Jr. “I have great relationships with them and they all prove to me everyday why they believe they can win.”

Duane, now in his eighth season at Perry, won 6A Premier Region Coach of the Year and the 6A Conference Coach of The Year honors.

Before coming to Perry, Duane coached Corona del Sol for 12 seasons, led the school to four straight Division I state titles between 2011 and 2015, as well as seven state semifinal appearances for CDS and Perry.  

Peat has 30 offers which includes Power Five schools including Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona, Michigan, Texas, and Alabama. 

“He’s a better person than he is a basketball player,” says coach Duane. “He’s an extremely fun player to coach and I don’t think people realize how great of a teammate he is and how unselfish he is. ...

"He’s extremely coachable, and people don’t realize how much of a great teammate he is, while also being a 4.0 student.”

There really isn’t a whole lot of weakness in Peat's game, which is what makes him the special prospect he is. 

“Koa’s a generational talent, as much as he's big time, he's super humble, and he's a really good kid,” Silsby said. “He’s a great teammate, and he helps everybody else get going … If we're down, he picks us up.” 

Because of Peat’s ability to score and gain attention from opposing players,  it allows other players like Silsby and Harrison to get more opportunities.

“Everyone is focused on him so it helps free us up and get everybody else going,” Silsby said. "The unselfishness from Peat might be his best trait, which shows the type of student, teammate, and person he is."

They’re used to the grind and the climb to the top, but being back-to-back state champions only makes it harder.

“We have a big target on our backs, so we're going to get everybody's best game and that's only gonna help us in the long run,” says Silsby.  “When it comes playoff time, and we’ve taken everybody's best shot, we’ll be ready to give our best shot come tournament time.”

It’s going to be another great year for the Pumas, but for Duane, it’s about playing for each other and to not take it for granted.

“Going through this journey, it’s going to be a lot of fun and exciting.” 

With another state championship for Perry, it’ll be the right to a dynasty, and one of the more dominant runs by a program in a long time in the state of Arizona. Either way, it’s all about legacies in high school sports, and Duane and his team have certainly left one to be remembered for years to come.