Peat Prowess: How one Arizona family produced seven Division I athletes

(Photo courtesy of Jana Peat)

In the midst of the cheers that filled the air following Arizona State football’s victory over UCF in early November, one group’s roar rose supreme. While many might have assumed the loudest and most passionate crowd would rally behind a star quarterback or wide receiver, the most passionate support came from a surprising source: a walk-on redshirt freshman lineman. Why? The name on his back belongs to a family much bigger, both in stature and legacy, than any single player present that night. 

In sports, there are royal families, names that echo across generations. The Mannings, Griffeys, Currys, Earnhardts, Hurleys, and Harbaughs are just a few of them. Families whose names come to define cities, teams, and entire sports. In the greater Phoenix metro area, one name has similarly reverberated through the local athletic landscape for over two decades:

Peat.

What’s truly remarkable isn’t just the prominence of the Peat name in Arizona but the sheer consistency with which each Peat performed. Seven children, all Division I athletes, all born from one athletic marriage, have collectively left their mark. Four are Division I football players, one of whom is a National Football League veteran. Three are Division I basketball players, with one — the youngest, a blue-chip, unanimous top-10 recruit — still weighing his college options. All from one household created on foundations of religion and athletic excellence. 

Seven kids, seven journeys, seven different lives, all successful, all a product of two parents who made it happen for all oftheir kids for decades. 

“I have to pinch myself sometimes,” Jana Peat, the mother, said. “I just can’t believe how God has blessed us. We just believe that every single one of them has been a blessing, and we’re just so grateful.” 

In Arizona, the Peats are more than just a family; they are a force. And their story is one of lasting impact, rooted in a legacy that is far from finished.

The Parents 

To understand the magnitude of the Peat legacy, like most families, you must first understand its foundation. That begins with Jana and Todd Sr., the parents whose vision and values helped shape an athletic dynasty.

“There’s a reason the Peats are successful, and that comes down to mom and dad,” basketball coach Sam Duane Jr. said. “They were taught the right things. They were taught about character and staying humble.”

Despite four of the seven children excelling in football, Duane Jr., current Perry High School basketball coach and former coach at Corona Del Sol High School, is the only coach to have had all seven members of the Peat family under his tutelage. Whether through his high school teams or his Tempe Hoop Stars camp, Duane has worked with every Peat child, male and female, over nearly two decades. Few, if any, understand the family’s values and origins better than Duane.

Humble beginnings started with Todd Sr. Originally from Champagne, Ill., he played football all his life without the same level of prosperity through which his kids grew up. After being named a third-team All-American as an offensive lineman for Northern Illinois in 1986, he was selected in the 11th round of the 1987 NFL Draft by the then-St. Louis Cardinals. Todd Sr., while laying the groundwork for his future large family, had already broken generational barriers in his existing large family through football. 

Before Todd Sr. ever created his own bustling hub of Peats, he came from a family full of them. Much of his success in raising his seven children came from his own big family he was growing up. A lot of kids running around was never going to be a daunting task for him. 

“His parents didn’t have very much money,” the first daughter of the family, Leilani Peat, said. “They had a lot of kids. He has five siblings and then two or three adopted siblings later on. Neither of his parents had a college education, so he was the first one to get one in his family.”

The Cardinals moved to the Valley of the Sun in 1988, bringing the eldest Peat to his future lifelong home city. Despite his career later taking him to the City of Angels, Todd Sr. had a certain affliction with Arizona, building a house and staying there in the off-season. It was during this time period he met his eventual wife. 

Jana, while not a Division I athlete, had her own background in sports. The three-sport athlete in high school excelled in softball, volleyball, and basketball. The hardwood was always her preferred place of residence though as she claimed basketball was her favorite sport. 

Todd Sr. ended up playing 79 games in the NFL, starting 36 of them. He also spent a year in the World League with the Frankfurt Galaxy in 1995, where he retired. During the twilight of Todd Sr.’s career in the early to mid-1990s, he and Jana began having kids. From the roots set in the Arizona desert soil, the first three sprung to life, starting the athletic lineage whose impact would echo throughout the Valley for over three decades.

Oldest Trio 

Despite all ending up as Division I football players, none of the three oldest kids: Todd Jr., (Born 1992) Andrus (Born 1993), and Cassius Peat (Born 1997), got to see their father play live. They only got to witness Todd Sr.’s post-career and more religious path. 

“He retired in 1995, I didn’t take the babies to the games,” Jana said. “They were just too little. When all the other kids came along, he was retired from football. He was a state Chaplain at the boy’s prison, Mountain Juvenile Detention Center. That’s what he did after.”

Despite what some may expect, the oldest three didn’t grow up playing football. Due to Todd Sr.’s concerns over his own health following his career, he and his wife decided against allowing their kids to follow their father’s path until they reached high school. 

Even with pleas from each passing boy to start their career earlier than the one preceding them, their father never budged. Education on how to play the game safely and how to preserve the mind and body through years of physical torment that football players endure was paramount for Todd Sr. He refused to subject his children to extra risk of future suffering from the game if he didn’t have to. 

“I used to beg my parents to play Pop Warner,” Cassius said. “I would beg them from 10 years old to play tackle. My dad explained to us, the wear and tear, and then the technique and the concussions and how you want to approach the game the right way.”

The Peats were so conscientious that they even had rules regarding backyard competitions. Safety was a tenant of the house that everyone was required to adhere to even in the backyard. Due to the natural competitive nature of his sons, Todd Sr. didn’t allow for roughhousing and was even weary of unsupervised backyard competitions.  

Todd Sr. left no safety stone unturned in his house. 

“I couldn’t even have glasses or glass dishes,” Jana said. “Everything had to be plastic”

Due to the imposed restrictions, it wasn’t football that ran through the entire family. It was basketball that every Peat kid grew up playing in their formative years. Every kid was exposed to sports and other activities starting around their kindergarten years as a way to get them active but also simply give them things to do. A difficult task for a mom of seven.

“When they were around four or five, I started introducing them to all kinds of activities,” Jana said.  “Not just sports, I just put them in all kinds of fun, active things because I was a mom of seven, and I needed to wear them out before they wore me out.”

In spite of football, basketball reigned supreme throughout all of their childhoods leading up to their high school years where they could dedicate their time to football. 

Once he did hit high school, Todd Jr. began the reign of Peat domination on Corona Del Sol athletics. While being the first of the Peat children to play under coach Duane on the basketball court it was on the gridiron which he staked his claim. 

Following his high school career Todd Jr commenced his college recruitment process as the No. 4 ranked player in the state of Arizona, eventually choosing Nebraska. He never caught on with the Cornhuskers, however, and stops at Eastern Arizona College, and Texas A&M-Commerce followed before retiring from football.

Behind him came the unit of the family. Of all seven children, only one, so far, can claim to have officially followed in their father’s footsteps to the NFL. Contrary to Todd Jr., who plied his trade on the defensive line, this one did it on the offensive line like his father Todd Sr. That would be 6-foot 7-inch offensive tackle Andrus Peat, who is currently a member of the Las Vegas Raiders. Despite not having played any Pop Warner football, Andrus dominated the Arizona high school football scene from the moment he started.

The eventual four-star recruit was the No. 64 ranked player in the country, the No. 4 ranked offensive tackle and the No. 1 ranked player in the state of Arizona. He was a nationally-touted prospect who brought coaches from across the country to the Peat dinner table in search of his signature. Through Andrus, this became the new normal for the household. 

“At some point, we got used to it,” Leilani said. “I remember being, like, 11 or 12, and I would walk home from softball practice or volleyball practice or basketball practice, and there’d be some coach at our dinner table. Like, (former Stanford head coach) David Shaw would be at our dinner table, or whoever was recruiting (Andrus) at the time, it was just a normal thing.”

Shaw eventually secured the signing from Andrus, where he became a mainstay on the offensive line during one of the most successful eras of Stanford football. During the left tackle’s time in Palo Alto from 2011 to 2014, the Cardinal went a combined 44-7 and appeared in three major bowl games, including two Rose Bowl appearances and multiple individual honors.

Entering the 2015 NFL Draft as the consensus top offensive lineman, it was a foregone conclusion Andrus would followhis father’s footsteps into the league. He was a first-round selection of the New Orleans Saints in that year’s draft which felt like a coronation of years of hard work. 

“I was at the draft, so I got to walk up on the stage, and it honestly felt like an out-of-body experience,” Andrus said.  “It was definitely one of the most memorable days of my life, and it was awesome to be able to share that with my family.”

Peat continued on to become a veteran in the NFL, now in his tenth total season having recently moved from the Saints to the Raiders, his father’s old team.  

Much of that dominance came from the preparation Todd Sr., Andrus, and Cassius received from their former professional dad. Even though training started later for the Peat boys than most, once it did start, training was thorough, often, andextensive.  While many parents opt to take their kids out to the nearest field to teach the basics of the game, the head of the Peat house decided to teach the sport he loved, in a more homey setting. 

“He would set up chairs,” Cassius said. “It was for Todd and Andrus, but I would be there learning the ‘X’s and O’s’ of football. He’d set up chairs as fake lineman. 

“From a young age, it was, ‘Okay, the tackle and guards are going to block here on this play,’ and we’d all be out there just basically learning football from an NFL player. We always thought it was so cool growing up, and we still respect and admire everything our dad has done.” 

Cassius, the third child, also followed his brother’s footsteps onto the field. He got his father’s strategic teachings of the game as well as the greater life lessons football can evoke in a person, from Todd Sr. 

“Discipline, structure, and academics, those were important,” Cassius said. “He emphasized dominating versus just being out there playing. Being the best every practice, every game, every sprint. That has kind of been the mindset of the siblings.” 

Cassius was every bit as dominant as his older brothers, leaving an indelible legacy on Corona Del Sol. Being the seventh overall recruit out of Arizona as a defensive lineman, he got his wish of being a highly touted football recruit, attracting some of the nation’s biggest coaching names to the Valley. Not only that, but he was the first Peat to be a four-time basketball state champion under coach Duane. 

While Andrus may have been the biggest standout on the field of the oldest siblings, Cassius dominated the floor with his clutch ability. 

“The thing about Cassius was he was a big game player in every one of those championships,” coach Duane said. “His sophomore year, he made the game-winning basket. In his junior year, he made big plays. His senior year, in our semifinal game, we started a little slow, and in the first half, he kind of kept us afloat.”

After committing to Michigan State and splitting time between the Spartans and Virginia, Cassius now works in the Ambassadors Program for the Raiders, being the third in his family to be employed in some facet by the team.

Middle Girls 

While the oldest boys hit the ground running the football field getting hands-on advice from an NFL veteran, the girls of the family took after their mother. Both Leilani, born in 1999, and Maya, born 2003, were multi-sport athletes but pursued basketball into college.

Growing up as the only girls in a family full of men can expectedly come with its set of challenges. However, as tight-knit as the Peat clan was, Leilani and Maya were never ostracized in any way. To anyone who knows Leilani, her upbringing was no different than her brothers who came before or after her. Competition and athletic excellence were everything.

“Sometimes I joke with my friends that I was raised like a boy, especially sports-wise,” Leilani said. “I never felt like my parents, or my dad specifically, treated me differently than the boys. That was a good thing, just because you have that same expectations and same style of coaching.”

While Todd Sr. was a mentor athletically to all of his kids, his wife, Jana, provided stability in the family. Especially for her girls in a world full of men, she was a north star for Maya and Leilani and was their form of reprieve from the masculinity emanating from the walls of the Peat household.

“[Jana] was extremely important,” Leilani said. “Especially since there were so many boys in the family. She didn’t play pro or anything, like our dad, but just being there. She’s kind of like a rock to everyone in the family.”

Leilani’s recruitment process greatly varied from the race of her brothers. However, while she was less touted as a recruit coming out of Corona Del Sol, it wasn’t completely her fault.

“My recruitment process was different from the boys,” Leilani said. “It wasn’t like I had 20 or 25 offers like the others did, so it was less hectic. There was a time when I was younger, maybe freshman or sophomore year when I was getting some interest from Pac-12 schools or Big 10 schools.

A diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis — an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in joints and affects mobility — greatly impacted her development and stifled the promise she had early in her high school career. Medical issues and not talent veeredLeilani’s path towards mid-major Seattle University as opposed to a power five school like her older brothers. 

Despite her own struggles, the eldest daughter was still a valuable mentor to her younger sister, Maya. The fifth kid and second daughter was another giant in a family full of giants growing to 6 feet 6 inches. Expectedly, the two middle girls had an extremely close connection both on and off the court.

“She’s probably the closest sibling to me, especially because we both play basketball too,” Leilani said. “She’ll always call me for advice or if she’s dealing with things with the team or the game. We were super close because of that.”

Maya began her collegiate journey at Arkansas Pine Bluff, where she dominated the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), earning All-SWAC Second-Team honors during her final season at UAPB. She has now transferred to Big 12 Texas Tech and is in her final collegiate season. 

While the men in the Peat family have only gotten to continue their father’s legacy the girls have gotten to see the actualization of dreams unfulfilled from their mother. For Jana, her daughter’s journeys have been all the fulfillment of those dreams she’s needed.

“I was just living my childhood dreams through them,” Jana said. “I was super happy because that’s what life’s all about, for your kids to do bigger and better things than you did. I was super happy to have that experience with my girls.”

Youngest Boys 

Perhaps the most captivating pair of Peat’s are the youngest two boys. One is a current Arizona State football player who almost didn’t live to see his own high school graduation. The other is one of the most highly touted basketball recruits ever out of the state of Arizona and has been one of the pioneers of the recruiting process in the new NIL era. 

ASU redshirt freshman lineman Keona, the sixth child and fourth son, followed a similar path to all of his brothers even though he is significantly younger, being born in 2005. Sit in on Todd Sr.’s teaching sessions with the chairs with his older brothers, played basketball growing up, not football until high school.

Growing up, the now Sun Devil had the benefit of a wealth of experience ahead of him from which to draw. With more knowledge and a stronger support system to tap into than maybe any other player in the country, Keona was more than set up for success.

“It’s surreal,” Keona said. “Honestly, I was always able to go to someone for advice. As a kid, I was always able to ask my dad, watch film with an older brother, or always have someone in my games watching me.”

During Keona’s high school years, the biggest tragedy in his and his family’s life befell him. While Jana, Koa and Maya were driving to Las Vegas for a basketball tournament, Todd Sr. stayed behind to watch Keona in his own high school summer league basketball game in Arizona. A freak accident on the court led to him breaking his leg ahead of football season. However, when his father rushed him to the hospital and seemingly routine surgery commenced, Keona had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic he received.

His body went into anaphylactic shock, and he suffered cardiac coding, which causes the heart to stop and go into cardiac arrest and requires rehabilitation efforts. Keona Peat died that day. 

Multiple times.

“(Keona) coded four times,” Jana said. “He died. He was dying. They shoved this breathing tube down his throat, trying to give him medication and whatever they needed to get him to start breathing again.”

The procedure was done in such haste, in an attempt to save his life, that there was major significant damage done to multiple parts of his body. During the process, the music major’s vocal cords were paralyzed; he lost 50 pounds in five days and was put in an induced coma and on a feeding tube that he would have to keep even after leaving the hospital two weeks later. 

For arguably one of the busiest families in America, life ground to a halt, and the Peats’ worry descended upon Arizona from everywhere they happened to be at that moment. 

“I flew back that morning, right when I got to Vegas,” Jana said. “I left and came back. I left my daughter there. I came back the next morning.”

Cassius looked toward a higher power for support. 

“I was at the house when I got the call and I was scared,” Cassius said. “I started panicking a little bit but just had faith in God that it was all going to work out.

Support came from even outside the family. 

“It was a scary time,” coach Duane said. “Just sent prayers for the family, and if they needed anything, our family would be there.”

Leilani had to completely alter plans to get home to Arizona as quickly as possible to beat the side of her brother. 

“That was the scariest moment of my life,” Leilani said.

For Keona, after having already lost seasons due to COVID-19, this was yet another setback in his development. Like Leilani, health issues out of his control stole away valuable high school years from him developing into the bona fide superstar his brothers were. 

A naturally fun-loving individual whose interests run deeper than just the sport of choice for the family, this freak accident was a tough pill to swallow not only for Keona but his family around him as well. 

“I joke around that (Keona is) everybody’s favorite, which I think he might be,” Leilani said. “He’s just a fun and cool kid, and he’s into fashion, art and music. He’s such a multi-dimensional kid.”

The setbacks didn’t end when Keona left the hospital, but faith and hard work allowed him to overcome his near-death experience. Not only did he fight to live, but he also fought to return to the football field to be able to play on a power four Division I roster. 

“It means that God is good, and he’s a healer, and I’m grateful to him for saving my child,” Jana said. “It affected his nerves on the left side too. He couldn’t even lift his shoulder or arm, so he had to rebuild that strength on his left side as well as try to play football. He had to come back from that, too. He faced major adversity, and he was able to overcome it.”

Keona’s decision to walk on at Arizona State, paid for by Andrus, came down to his love for his city and his personal connection to the program. He did receive lower-tier offers to play elsewhere, but his desire to represent ASU at the collegiate level was stronger than the desire to play right away.

“I’ve been coming to ASU games since I could remember,” Keona said. “I remember [Tempe] from when I was a little kid. It seemed so big, and now I’m here. I just felt like it was right to stay home and play for the city I grew up in. I thought it would be surreal to experience my dream in a city which I once dreamed in.”

Koa, the seventh child, fifth son, and youngest Peat, is now a senior at Perry High School. Instead of following his family to Corona Del Sol, Koa followed Duane in an attempt to win four state titles of his own. Amongst a host of accolades, Koa is a consensus top-ten recruit, not just in Arizona but in the country at large. He has been a consensus five-star across all recruiting websites for almost the entirety of the duration of his high school career.

This is far from the first time the Peats have dealt with top college coaches and not even the first time the family has dealt with a nationally touted prospect. As explained before, Andrus brought almost every collegiate football coach to the Peat dinner table, to the point it became a new norm in the household. However, one factor has completely turned Koa’s recruitment on its head. So much so that he’s on his own without experience from his siblings to lean on thanks to Name Image and Likeness (NIL). 

“It’s extremely different because they weren’t offered these dollar amounts by these schools,” Jana said. “The pressure is the same, but I heard some kids were asking up to like, $5-7 million to come to these schools. I think that’s ridiculous.”

With the increased amount of money involved in college recruiting today, there has come a greater emphasis on financial literacy. That’s the biggest difference the Peats have seen in Koa’s recruitment compared to Andrus’ or any of the other children. They’ve had to be more intentional in ensuring Koa’s financial literacy at a younger age than the others.

“We have had to take him through the process of, ‘here’s your investment banker, here’s your stocks,’” Jana said. “Teaching him how to manage taxes and how much to set aside for them. He needs to hold on to this so he can pay the taxes, and he’s keeping receipts and learning this stuff now. He pays himself an allowance each month. He still calls Dad for $5 to get into his friend’s volleyball game.”

Koa, born in 2007, has broken the previously established precedent that the Peat men play basketball before switching to football for their college careers. Standing a taller 6 feet 8 inches and a comparatively skinnier 235 pounds as listed on 247 Sports, Koa gravitated toward the hardwood like his sisters and his mom.

Not only did his body grow into a basketball player, but his natural passion drove him to basketball. The urge that his brothers had to make the switch to football, even though they all enjoyed basketball, was never there, and he’s become one of the nation’s best high school players for it.

“With Koa, even at a young age, you could see his passion for basketball,” Andrus said. “Just the skill and the love of the game he has. That’s why he decided to go that route.”

Even though most of the family has moved on from the household, Keona makes sure the competitiveness of the legendary backyard competitors started by the oldest trio isn’t lost for Koa. No matter how good Koa becomes or how much national acclaim he receives, respect is earned in the Peat household. 

“Out of all the people in the family, I’m the hardest on him,” Keona said. “I’ll tell him to this day, to his face, ‘if we’re one-on-one, I’m winning that. Five stars or zero stars, it doesn’t matter, I’m winning that.’” 

Koa, now a three-time state champion, has narrowed his college options to five schools: Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, and Houston. He’s yet to make his decision, but his mom does see the connection the two youngest have and how much Keona has supported Koa through ASU. 

“Keona and Koa are really close; they’re best friends,” Jana said. “Keona wants to be a part of Koa’s high school experience. He brings ASU football players to the games and the state championship games. He just really wants to be a part of that.”

Impact

For anyone curious about the story of the Peats, one question likely sits on the top of their heads. How did they do it? Seven kids, Seven practices, seven meals, seven places to be, seven proms, seven games, seven concurrent seasons. All of it.

From the outside looking in, it seems like a daunting to near-impossible task to manage to put seven kids through youth sports in America and have them all be successful. For the Peat family, it was just the life they chose, and it was nothing more than just getting it all done. 

“We just did. It was crazy, and we’re still doing it,” Jana said. “I still have kids in college playing, and I have a son that’s in the pros, and I still have a kid in high school. So, we split up mostly. We’ve been able to make it work.”

There was a method to the madness, however. Meals were always cooked by Jana. The children of NFL offensive linemen were naturally predisposed to putting on more weight than others, so their mother made it a priority to watch their weight and eat healthy as much as possible. That often meant the cooking had to come from the Peat household. 

Over time, she learned that by 2 p.m., the cooking for that night had to be done. Once two hit on every weekday, the work began.

“It would start at two; the cooking had to be done,” Jana said.  “At 2:25, it was time to leave to pick the kids up. I had to pick up one group of kids, then the other group of kids, then the next group of kids, and then head out to wherever we needed to go. To this day, I can’t believe we did it.”

Todd Jr. played a huge role in filling in the gaps once he reached age. Andrus would be the first to admit it was Todd Jr. who helped him the most through his recruiting process. The lessons on how to handle that stressful time period were something Andrus would continue to pass down to Keona and Koa. However, it wasn’t just recruiting that Todd Jr. assisted in. Being the first child came with its own set of seemingly mundane responsibilities to keep the large family running. 

“I felt bad for Todd,” Leilani said. “He was kind of a second parent once he got his driver’s license. He would drop me and Cassius off at elementary school or whatever, and then go drive him and Andrus to Corona.”

Those responsibilities didn’t end as Todd Jr. grew older, and more and more siblings leaned on the oldest for guidance. While Andrus was closest in age and leaned on Todd for recruiting help, the younger group leaned on him for more than just recruitment questions. 

“(Todd Jr.) was our high school AAU coach,” Keona said. “He was like a second father figure. He taught us everything we know. He was that father and coach figure. He played that role, just like inspiring us to chase our dreams.”

Todd Jr.’s help was necessary, considering that even while Jana was dealing with seven growing babies, she was not a stay-at-home mom. For a good portion of most of her kids’ upbringing, she was a working woman who found a way to juggle multiple responsibilities and achieve a positive outcome for all of her children as well.

“I owned and operated four senior care homes,” Jana said. “I started that when I was pregnant with Cassius. So in 1996, I sold them and retired when Keona was born, so in 2005. It was a quick career, but it provided a nice lifestyle for us. It was special for my kids, the ones I had growing up in that environment with handicapped, elderly people. My kids weren’t afraid of people who have had strokes, elderly people, people who can’t walk, who talk funny, or have Alzheimer’s. So it was nice that they could grow up around that.”

The family did get it all done, and their greatest achievement may not be in their on-field or on-court impact but in how they’ve affected the Arizona community as a whole. Koa has hosted a free youth basketball camp in partnership with the Arizona Saints Foundation, Andrus has hosted his Peats Purpose Foundation Youth Football Camp for several years, and the peats have been mainstays at coach Duane’s aforementioned Tempe Hoop Stars youth basketball camp.

The family legacy has been greater than any one person, and their character has been at the forefront of conversation.Despite Jana having seen some hate from ASU fans when none of the oldest three committed to the Sun Devils, she’s been firm in the belief that her kids have done well by the family name in Arizona. 

“I would hope that we’re seen as positive, kind and talented,” Jana said. “We try to be that way. We always try to set a positive example and give back to the community, we want to give back.”

There may have been no better example of how much the community supports the Peats than when Keona was in the hospital recovering from his life-threatening experience. The community he had built in both basketball and football rallied around him to share its support for the sixth Peat child.

“His whole basketball and football team, I arranged for them to come outside his window,” Jana said. “We were on the third floor, but we looked out the window and saw they had parked their cars and had signs. All the coaches, teammates, family, and friends were outside with signs saying, ‘We love you, Keona, get better soon,’ with balloons and streamers. It was amazing.”

The Peat family name has resonated throughout the Valley of the Sun, touching every part of both its athletic and communal landscape. It represents a legacy already realized and one still to be expanded.

However, the last name reaches further than any one child’s accomplishments. It’s not just Andrus Peat, the son of NFL player Todd Peat. Nor is it Koa Peat, a nationally ranked basketball player. The name isn’t just Keona Peat, who defied death to become a Division I football player, or Leilani Peat, who overcame illness to carry her last name to a Division I basketball court.

Peat represents an amalgamation of decades of success, but, further, an impact on a community that grows with each passing year and each new iteration of this family.

“I take so much pride in the last name,” Cassius said. “I’m proud of our individual accomplishments, but I’m more so proud of what we’ve been able to do in the community over the years. Going back to being in the church, charities, and things like that, It’s bigger than sports for us.”

Arguably, the craziest part of the Peat story is that even after raising seven kids to athletic excellence, the story doesn’t end with them. The Peats aren’t just expanding but multiplying. The next generation of Peat grandchildren is already here in the Valley of the Sun and beyond, and Jana welcomes the new family and the continuation of the Peat name.

“We have 11 grandkids,” Jana said. “We’re looking forward to the next stages. It’s starting to happen with our grandkids now because there’s only an eight-year difference between our first grandson and Koa. They’re starting up in their sports, and they’re going to be going through the whole process. They’re super talented already. I see it in them and recognize it.”

Externally, the Peats have left a profound legacy at every level of Arizona athletics, from high school to the professional ranks. The state has been enriched by the sporting brilliance produced by one of its NFL veterans, and that well is evidently not running dry anytime soon.

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