Arizona had another productive day in the transfer portal, as the Wildcats approach 20 newcomers since the portal opened last week.
The portal closes for new entries on Friday. Arizona currently has 18 signees in its 2026 transfer portal class.
Arizona signed three new players to start the week: Colorado State wide receiver Jordan Ross, Washington State punter and kicker Ryan Harris and BYU offensive tackle Jake Griffin.
Ross transferred to Arizona following two seasons at CSU. Ross will have two years of eligibility remaining.
The 5-11, 180-pound Ross native signed with Colorado State as a three-star prospect out of Warren High School in Downey, California, in 2024. Ross was also being recruited by UA, Auburn, Colorado, Washington and Notre Dame, among others, but signed to play for CSU head coach Jay Norvell, who was fired halfway through last season.
Ross had 26 catches for 302 yards and a touchdown with the Rams. Ross, who played in Snoop Dogg's youth football league in Los Angeles, was a part of the CSU team that lost to Miami (Ohio) in the 2024 Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop. Ross had four catches for 58 yards in his first performance at what is now called Casino Del Sol Stadium.
Colorado State wide receiver Jordan Ross runs against against San Diego State on Oct. 3, 2025, in San Diego.
Ross is the latest Wildcat who played in the Arizona Bowl. Former defensive tackle Roy Lopez helped New Mexico State win the Arizona Bowl in 2017. Former UA long snapper Justin Holloway caught a two-point conversion for Ohio in the Arizona Bowl before transferring to UA. Arizona head coach Brent Brennan coached San Jose State in the pandemic-influenced Arizona Bowl in 2020.
Ross is the third wide receiver Arizona added in the transfer portal, along with West Virginia's Rodney Gallagher III and USC's DJ Jordan.
Gallagher grew up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania — a small town near the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border — and signed with the Mountaineers in 2023 following a productive career at Laurel Highlands High School.
Gallagher was a four-star prospect and was recruited as a receiver and defensive back. The 5-10, 180-pound Gallagher signed with WVU over Michigan, Oregon, Cincinnati, Nebraska, Penn State and Texas, among others.
In three years at West Virginia, Gallagher had 64 receptions for 605 yards and three touchdowns. Gallagher had the second-most receptions (28) for the Mountaineers this past season.
When West Virginia beat Arizona, 31-16, in Tucson in 2024, Gallagher had two catches for 14 yards and had a season-high 21 rushing yards.
Jordan was also a highly touted recruited as a Los Angeles-area and Sierra Canyon High School product. After redshirting his freshman season, the 5-11, 175-pound Jordan had five catches for 38 yards in his second season at USC.
The Wildcats are losing their top two receivers in Kris Hutson and Javin Whatley, who combined for 1,250 yards and nine touchdowns, to graduation. Arizona is losing veteran wide receiver Luke Wysong.
Arizona returns its third-leading receiver in redshirt junior Tre Spivey, along with redshirt senior Chris Hunter, sophomores Gio Richardson and Isaiah Mizell and third-year receiver Brandon Phelps.
Arizona signed four-star Northern California wide receiver RJ Mosley, who is the Wildcats' highest-rated recruit in the 2026 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.com, along with three-star Allen, Texas receiver Caleb "Jet" Smith.
Colorado State wide receiver Jordan Ross sidesteps out of the hands of Miami (Ohio) defensive lineman Brian Ugwu during the Arizona Bowl in Tucson on Dec. 28, 2024.
Arizona has a total of five newcomers at wide receiver in 2026.
Harris is coming to Tucson after two seasons at Washington State. Harris, who has a year of eligibility remaining, is joining the Wildcats as a punter, but the WSU transfer has experience kicking field goals and kickoffs.
Harris is a Vancouver, British Columbia, native and started his college career at San Diego Mesa College. Harris averaged just under 39 yards per punt; his longest punt was a 64-yarder. He also had 23 punts land inside the 20-yard line.
Harris signed with Washington State as a walk-on in 2024 and was the Cougars' kickoff specialist in three games. He appeared in all 13 games as a punter for the Cougars in 2025, averaging 40.7 yards per punt — and a long of 60 yards. Harris pinned 15 punts inside the 20-yard line. Harris also attempted 60 kickoffs, with 45 touchbacks.
Harris is the third specialist to join the Wildcats since the season ended. Arizona added Arkansas State long snapper Drew Nicolson from the transfer portal and added punter and former West Virginia signee Chase Ridley.
Washington State punter and kicker Ryan Harris is joining the Arizona Wildcats after two seasons with the Cougars.
Nicolson joins Arizona after playing the last two seasons at Arkansas State. He started his college career in 2023 at Akron. The 6-2, 220-pound Tempe native prepped at Corona del Sol High School, where he was teammates with UA reserve offensive lineman Keona Peat, who is the older brother of Arizona basketball star Koa Peat.
Nicolson appeared in all 12 games at Akron and transferred to Arkansas State. He redshirted his first season with the Red Wolves and became the starting long snapper this past season. Arkansas State went 7-6 and beat Missouri State, 34-28, in the Xbox Bowl in Frisco, Texas.
Nicolson has 202 snaps and two tackles in his college career, according to Pro Football Focus.
Ridley, who hails from Perth, Australia, is the latest Aussie to play at the UA.
The 6-2, 233-pound Australian initially signed to play for former Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia, but was granted release from WVU and signed with the Wildcats. Ridley will start his Arizona career as a true freshman.
Arizona had Australia native Isaac Lovison at punter last season. Lovison, who's out of eligibility, was ninth in the Big 12 in punting average (42.6) during his lone season in Tucson. The Wildcats also had Lachlan Bruce on the 2024 roster, but the Aussie didn't appear in any games.
Ridley joins Arizona via the ProKick Australia program that has produced several NFL punters, including Mitch Wishnowsky, Michael Dickson, Cameron Johnston and Lou Hedley, among others. Lovison, who was one of the first additions since the hiring of Arizona special teams coordinator Craig Naivar last year, was also a part of the ProKick Australia program as an Aussie rules football player.
The Wildcats are reshaping their specialists corps, which lost Lovison and senior long snapper Avery Salerno.
Arizona returns junior placekicker Michael Salgado-Medina, who was 19 for 31 on field goals, the most misses in a season for the UA since 1999, albeit snapping inconsistencies factored into some of those misses.
Salgado-Medina was 5 for 12 at field goals between 40-49 yards, but displayed leg strength with a 57-yarder against Oklahoma State and a crucial 51-yarder against Cincinnati.
Arizona also has second-year walk-on kicker Tyler Prasuhn, who's the son of former UA kicker John Prasuhn, along with second-year long snapper and Montana native Broden Molen, who played in the Navy All-American Bowl last year.
Griffin is the older brother of Arizona redshirt freshman offensive tackle Jaxon Griffin, who just finished his first season with the Wildcats.
The Griffins are one of three brother tandems on Arizona's roster for 2026, along with quarterback Noah Fifita and linebacker Dash Fifita and wide receiver Tre Spivey and cornerback Kingston Spivey.
The older Griffin, who has two years of eligibility remaining, signed with BYU out of Red Mountain High School in Mesa during the 2020 recruiting cycle, but served a full-time service for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Durban, South Africa.
Griffin signed with BYU over Arizona, Oregon State, Washington State, UCLA, Utah, Indiana, Utah State and San Diego State.
The 6-5, 305-pound Griffin played 27 offensive snaps for the Cougars last season, mostly at right tackle.
Griffin is the third offensive line addition for Arizona in the transfer portal, along with San Jose State offensive tackle Nate Hale and Washington center Zachary Henning.
Griffin and Hale bolster Arizona's tackle spots following the loss of starting left tackle Ty Buchanan and right tackle Tristan Bounds, who was sidelined the final three games of the season with a leg injury. After Buchanan exited Arizona's loss to SMU in the Holiday Bowl, redshirt sophomore Rhino Tapa'atoutai replaced the starter at left tackle — opposite side of redshirt freshman right tackle Matthew Lado.
Tapa'atoutai, who was Arizona's starter at left tackle in 2024 before suffering a season-ending knee injury halfway through the season, and Lado are both set to return to the Wildcats in 2026. Lado and Tapa'atoutai played both right and left tackle this past season.
The UA coaches are also encouraged with the development of tackle Louis Akpa, a 6-6, 280-pound redshirt freshman from San Francisco. Other tackles on Arizona roster are Jaxon Griffin and walk-on Zarius Wells, among others.
Arizona's transfer portal class currently ranks eighth in the Big 12 and 44th nationally, according to 247Sports.com.
Find out the latest updates on Arizona football's activity in the transfer portal with the Star's tracker on Tucson.com and The Wildcaster mobile app.
