Arizona football mailbag: What's on the Wildcats' transfer portal wish list?

The countdown to No. 14 Arizona’s battle with No. 12 Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio is officially under two weeks.

As the Wildcats prepare for their first bowl in six seasons amid the transfer portal open for business and the early signing period for the 2024 recruiting class beginning on Wednesday, we solicited mailbag questions on “X,” the social media formerly known as Twitter, from readers and Star content consumers.

In addition to answering most of them on the latest episode of The Wildcast Podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcasting platforms, Star football reporter Justin Spears answered the burning questions submitted from UA football fans. Here they are:

What’s left on the transfer-portal wishlist, if anything?

Arizona recently picked up two defensive commitments through the transfer portal, cornerback Jordan Shaw (Indiana) and defensive tackle Chubba Maae (UC Davis), and they’re likely going to land more.

The Wildcats are in a position where they can be selective with players they bring in through the transfer portal, because there are only so many starting spots available. Arizona will lose starters such as left tackle Jordan Morgan, who opted out of the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft, wide receiver Jacob Cowing, tight end Tanner McLachlan, running back Michael Wiley, edge rusher Taylor Upshaw and defensive tackle Tyler Manoa. The aforementioned players have backups more than capable of taking over their starting roles in 2024.

Unless the UA coaching staff has prior relationships with prospects in the transfer portal, Arizona won’t entertain them.

“If we don’t know anything about them, I’m not interested,” Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch said earlier this month. “We just can’t do it. So now it’s a matter of, ‘Alright, well, let’s turn on his film, let’s look at his production, let’s find out the background of how many years he has left. Is he coming in as a (graduate) transfer or is he coming in as a one-time transfer, undergrad transfer? Are there any things that we need to know?’

“Then we turn the film on, watch the film and we see, ‘Where does this person fit in?’ And then I ask our position coaches and our recruiting department to inform me on, ‘Where do you see this player playing on our team? Are we bringing him in to add depth or are we bringing him in here to start?’ To pass the start test with me is a very hard test.”

The Wildcats are in the market for inside linebacker and recently hosted former Oregon State Beaver Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, who finished second in the Pac-12 in tackles this season, for an official visit. A linebacker tandem of Mascarenas-Arnold and Jacob Manu, the Pac-12 tackles leader, would be one of the most productive duos paired together in college football.

Arizona is also targeting former San Diego State offensive tackle Drew Azzopardi, a 6-7, 315-pound redshirt freshman, and ex-Missouri edge rusher D.J. Wesolak, a former four-star recruit.

Who is the most likely player to get poached (in the transfer portal) a la Dorian Singer?

The Wildcats have signed several productive players from the transfer portal, but they’ve also been victim to college football’s free agency period while the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) era takes flight.

Last year Arizona lost three starters between star wide receiver Dorian Singer, cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace and defensive tackle Kyon Barrs, whom all took significant drop-offs in production compared to their last year at the UA, to the USC Trojans, a Pac-12 favorite and College Football Playoff hopeful with a defending Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback — and plenty of NIL opportunities in Los Angeles.

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Fisch asked on the “Move the Sticks” podcast, “’Why would you want to leave if you’re good?”

“You don’t know what it’s going to look like. Next thing you know you make a decision for one year’s of college money versus a 10-year NFL career path possibly,” he said. “If you’re good, but not great, you’re not really a retention issue; you’re going to be retained. If you’re poor, then that’s an evaluation issue.’

“I wish those kids just took a step back and say, ‘For what? One year? Why are they coming after me? Because I’m doing great here?’ ‘So how about do great again?’”

Fisch understands “there’s always going to be people trying to take your players, so you have to avoid that and make sure that these players understand their value to this program.”

Arizona star receiver Tetairoa McMillan, offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea, running back Jonah Coleman and cornerbacks Tacario Davis and Ephesians Prysock would be instant starters at nearly every school nationally. However, they’re set to become draft eligible after next season, and the Wildcats are expected to have one of the top teams in college football next season — a team that will likely be in the CFP conversation entering the season.

Don’t expect many surprising departures from the program this offseason.

Is the UA football staff viewing this offseason (and) 2024 season as the most important season in Arizona history?

The Alamo Bowl is a springboard for Arizona heading into 2024.

“There’s two ways to prepare for a bowl game: You could choose it as a celebration of the season or you choose it as a championship game. Those are the two options,” Fisch said. “We’re going to choose it as a championship game.”

The Wildcats could become the third team in program history to record 10 wins in a season. In the process, they can take down SEC-bound Oklahoma in a state with a quarter of the Big 12 membership. If Arizona can beat a brand name like Oklahoma in a bowl game and return a majority of the starters, considering the Wildcats only lost three games by a combined 16 points, the Wildcats will generate a ton of preseason buzz for 2024.

What was Fisch doing at the L.A. Clippers game?

Fisch, offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll, wide receivers coach Kevin Cummings and quarterbacks coach Jimmie Dougherty attended the L.A. Clippers home game against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena, and were presented with a custom blue “Bear Down” Clippers jersey from team owner Steve Ballmer.

The coaches were on the road visiting current commits for Arizona’s upcoming 2024 class and uncommitted prospects. According to Greg Biggins from 247Sports.com, the Wildcats had an in-home visit with four-star Calabasas, California wide receiver Aaron Butler, who is visiting the UA this weekend.

Fisch and the UA football program was also lauded on the Clippers television broadcast. Whether it was originally planned or not, Fisch is strategically marketing Arizona as a program on the rise, especially in Southern California, a market that is the backbone of the Fisch regime.