Arizona's spring semester is set to begin this week and ahead of that the football program announced a handful of its newest players that have joined the team since Jedd Fisch took over as head coach. UA signed 16 players back in December including on transfer Baylor offensive lineman Davis DiVall.
Since then Fisch and his coaching staff have continued making additions to the roster with four more transfers and two high school prospects committing to the Wildcats since the new coaches came aboard.
Monday the four newest transfer additions were made official with Colorado defensive end/outside linebacker Jason Harris, Notre Dame cornerback Isaiah Rutherford plus Northwestern safety Gunner Maldonado and running back Drake Anderson all being announced by the Wildcats.
The entire group of transfers, which will count toward the 2021 recruiting class for UA, came together last week as Fisch began to turn his attention to building his first roster in Tucson. Three of the four members of the group are Arizona natives and shined as high school players enough to earn opportunities at schools across the country.
Now they are returning home at various points in their careers with an opportunity to help UA begin building under Fisch.
Anderson is the most accomplished of the group as he comes to UA after a solid career with the Northwestern. He finished the 2020 season second on the team with 256 rushing yards to go with two rushing scores. He is a speedy back who should be in contention for early playing time with the Wildcats heading into his fourth college season.
Rutherford was the highest-rated recruit of the bunch as he was a four-star prospect who ranked 110th overall in the 2019 class (Rivals.com). Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon and USC were just some of the programs that pursued the California cornerback in high school. He was on the field for fewer than 30 snaps in 2020 with the Irish after using a redshirt season as a freshman, but he should have an opportunity to compete for a starting job with the Wildcats considering UA will be looking for a replacement for longtime starter Lorenzo Burns.
Harris and Maldonado were two of UA's priority in-state targets in the 2020 recruiting cycle, but the previous coaching staff lost out on both players as they ended up leaving home to play at other programs. Harris didn't go far as he stayed in the Pac-12 to play at Colorado while Maldonado made the trek from Chandler to Evanston to play in the Big Ten at Northwestern.
Harris didn't have an opportunity to see the field as a freshman while Maldonado was used sparingly in his first season at Northwestern. Both players will have four years of eligibility with the Wildcats.
In addition to the four new transfers, Arizona added commitments from Florida defensive back Isaiah Taylor and Connecticut athlete Anthony Simpson Jr. Both of those prospects will have their opportunity to sign with the Wildcats in February meaning the program will not announce them until that time.
UA also holds commitments from Seattle-area quarterback Clay Millen, Texas linebacker KC Ossai and Texas defensive back Jakelyn Morgan – all of whom did not sign in December amid the coaching uncertainty at UA at the time.
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