2026 athlete Brandon Smith commits to Arizona over Cal

Fresno (Calif.) Central East three-star athlete Brandon Smith has committed to Arizona, he announced on Sunday.

He chose the Wildcats over the in-state Cal Bears. Smith was previously committed to San Diego State.

Smith is the No. 1,090 overall prospect and No. 53 athlete in the 2026 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 95 player in California.

Head coach Brent Brennan and the Arizona staff have landed a do-it-all West Coast playmaker. As a junior for Central East, Smith did a little bit of everything. According to MaxPreps, he ran for 1,871 yards — a single-season program record — and 25 touchdowns, averaging nearly seven yards per carry. He also caught 31 passes for 354 yards and a pair of TDs. Smith has 37 offensive scores to his name across his last two seasons.

Then on defense, the 6-footer had 71 total tackles, including 12.5 for loss. He also tallied a pair of sacks, a pair of interceptions and deflected four more passes. He was a catalyst for a Central East program that won 12 games in 2024 and finished as the No. 19 team in California, per the On3 Composite Rankings.

Smith originally committed to San Diego State at the end of January. He came back on the board three months later. Arizona had already offered before he made his first pledge, but things began to pick up toward the end of the spring.

The Wildcats had Smith in Tucson for an official visit last weekend. Now, he’s the 14th member of Arizona’s 2026 recruiting class.

More on Arizona Recruiting

Arizona has now landed nine commitments in June, the biggest of which came via Downey (Calif.) four-star quarterback Oscar Rios. Like Smith, Rios spurned an in-state program — UCLA — in favor of the Wildcats.

The signal-caller headlines the class, ranking as the nation’s No. 190 overall prospect and No. 13 QB. As a junior for Downey, Rios hurled for more than 2,500 yards and 22 touchdowns to six interceptions. He also rushed for over 700 yards and an additional 11 scores, per MaxPreps. Rios has found the end zone 74 times across the last two seasons.

The state of California is home to five of Arizona’s 14 commits to date. Pittsburg three-star wide receiver RJ Mosley, San Fransisco Archbishop Riordan three-star interior offensive lineman Michael Langi and Santa Ana Santa Margarita Catholic three-star linebacker Dash Fifita are also committed and hail from the Golden State.

As of June 29, the Arizona class ranks No. 62 in the nation, according to the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. That ranks No. 13 in the Big 12, ahead of Cincinnati, Utah and Colorado.