Wednesday afternoon was one of the biggest days of the offseason for Arizona as star quarterback announced that he would be remaining with the program despite the underwhelming 4-8 season and a change with the offensive coordinator.
However, Brent Brennan and his staff still have a lot of work to do given that 30 former Wildcats entered the transfer portal. Brennan got more good new on Thursday morning as the players entered number has now dropped to 29 with defensive back Genesis Smith announcing his return to the program after testing out the portal waters.
Coming out of high school from Chandler, Smith was an underrated three-star recruit who picked the Wildcats over offer from Arizona State, Cal and Washington among others.
In his freshman season, Smith played 13 games where he collected 24 tackles with 13 solo tackles and an interception. In his sophomore season, his role with the defense increased and even saw him playing all over the field due to injuries sustained by other starters on the unit.
With the increased role and playing all over the field, Smith was able to improve is game by totaling 63 tackles, 39 solo tackles and four tackles for loss to go along with three interceptions. He was able to show off his versatility and help keep a banged up defense going.
Now Smith has returned and will be a critical piece to the Arizona program as Brennan and his staff try to get things back on track from a horrific first season at the helm.
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