There are still some potential hurdles to clear, but for the time being Max Harris and Ismail Mahdi are back in the fold for Arizona.
The Wildcats have officially added the two veterans, who were key contributors to the 2025 team. Both were granted an extra year of eligibility following a federal judge’s ruling last month.
Mahdi led the UA in rushing last season with 859 yards while Harris was third on the team with 78 tackles. The former was in attendance for practice Monday, though not dressed to
participage, while Harris could join the team as early at Tuesday.
“They’re great human beings and they’re also really great football players,” UA coach Brent Brennan said. “So like that, it’s a win-win for us. We’re not bringing someone into our family that won’t be welcome back. Everyone’s excited that they’re rejoining us, which is cool.”
Carroll said the timetable for how quickly they can get up to speed physically will be determined by strength and conditioning coach Cullen Carroll and his staff. As for their ability to play in games, that’s still up in the air.
“No one knows,” Brennan said. “Come on, you know the answer to that. Come on, no one knows that stuff. Yeah, everybody’s waiting. Everyone’s waiting to see how this thing unwinds with the NCAA, with all the decisions that are being made in courts all over the country right now. But we need to get them here and start getting them acclimated.”
Mahdi joins a running back room that already returned Kedrick Reescano and Quincy Craig, who last season combined for 760 yards and 12 total touchdowns. The UA added former Marshall RB Antwan Roberts from Marshall and also has second-year players Cornelius Warren and Wesley Yarbrough expected to be more in the mix this fall.
Harris, who started 12 games at linebacker in 2025, joins a group that also brings back seniors Taye Brown and Chase Kennedy and has several transfers and underclassmen competing for reps in practice.
“I think that’s going to be the the delicate thing, because not knowing what the eligibility status of those guys is going to be, we’re going to have to be smart about how we rep them,” Brennan said. “At the same time, both of those guys played a lot of football. That’s one of the benefits of them being as old as they are. They’ve played a lot of football. So there’s some trust there also, because they played a lot of football, they know our scheme, so I think that makes that transition a little bit easier.”
Young defensive linemen standing out
Of the 22 true freshmen on Arizona’s camp roster, five play on the defensive line. Thanks to the overall depth up front, led by 6th-year Tre Smith and four other players who combined to make 21 starts last season, there isn’t a need to rush any of those newcomers into action. But at the same time, it might be hard to keep some of them off the field with how they’ve performed.
Keytrin Harris, Kaisi Lafitaga and Prince Williams have each stood out so far in fall camp, bringing a combination of size, speed and agility that is unique for first-year players at that position.
Williams was one of the top additions from the 2026 recruiting class, a 3-star prospect who picked the UA over BYU and Utah, among others. The 6-foot-3, 272-pound edge was the MaxPreps Nevada Player of the Year last season.
“There comes along a certain type of raw talent, and he has those qualities and redeeming qualities,” defensive line coach Joe Salave’a said. “He wants to be coached, and he’s a great teammate. That’s one of the things that I’m really impressed with Prince. If there’s one person that you want to take to the back alley, Prince obviously is that guy.”
The 6-foot-6, 305-pound Harris, like Williams, is from Las Vegas, while the 6-foot-2, 300-pound Lafitaga is from American Samoa. A two-way lineman in high school, Salave’a won out over OL coach Josh Oglesby for Lafitaga’s services.
“His ceiling is so high right now, he doesn’t even know it,” Salave’a said of Lafitaga. “He hasn’t even begun to understand that. I owe Coach Josh a couple a Snickers bars and some Powerbars for letting Kaisi be in our room.”
Doost makes ‘Freaks’ list
The Athletic has released its annual College Football Freaks List and UA offensive lineman Alexander Doost has made the cut thanks to his insane weight room accomplishments.
“This offseason, he bench pressed 440 pounds, power cleaned 405 and back squatted 650,” wrote The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, who ranked Doost 84th. “He has impressive explosiveness for being so enormous. He vertical jumped 30 inches, broad jumped nine (feet) and hit 18 mph on the GPS. Even more impressive: seeing a guy who weighs almost 350 pounds climb up a rope 25 feet to reach the ceiling.”
The 6-foot-7, 332-pound Doost, who has garnered the nickname “The Hulk,” has started 22 consecutive games for Arizona at right guard.
