Arizona possibly returning LB Max Harris, RB Ismail Mahdi ‘gives this team great depth’

U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte Sweeney’s ruling in Colorado Friday afternoon will allow class of 2022 student-athletes, who weren’t grandfathered in the NCAA’s new “five-in-five” rule, to compete for the upcoming 2026-27 sports season.

The five-in-five rule allows student-athletes to use up their eligibility in five years — with their eligibility clock starting upon their freshman year or after their 19th birthday. Several 2022 athletes competed in four years, but weren’t granted an additional year of eligibility.

The NCAA is attempting to appeal Sweeney’s ruling — the appeal has no date of resolution. If the NCAA fails to stop the ruling, Arizona will add running back and leading rusher Ismail Mahdi and linebacker Max Harris to its roster — two leaders from last year’s Holiday Bowl team who went undrafted.

“I think it’ll be great,” Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said at UA’s media day on Tuesday. “That process is ongoing. There’s a lot of things we have to figure out there in terms of agents and what that was, what the training costs were for those guys and how the NCAA sees those things for those players. The biggest thing that our team and our staff will be excited about with Izzy and Max, they are outstanding high-character people.

“They’re obviously good football players, but they’re tremendous young men. Any time we can add a late addition like that, with that kind of talent, combined with high-level character, we’re excited about that.”

Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois told the Star Arizona’s “compliance office is working (on it).”

“This is a high priority for us, for all of the student-athletes that are in this situation,” Reed-Francois said. “We will go as expeditiously as possible. We recognize camp is starting, and we're not the only ones that are in that same situation. … For the two student-athletes that we're speaking about, Max Harris and Ish are phenomenal young people. We would welcome them back. We are going to work through the appropriate details and protocols to make sure that they are eligible and that we fulfilled all of our requirements.”

Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said the possible addition of Harris and Mahdi “gives this football team great depth.”

“I hope it happens,” Gonzales said. “The Colorado judge wants it to happen. Hopefully everyone else will get onboard and let these kids play. That’s somebody else’s decision that we don’t get to make. They’ll help our football team. Both of them are really good football players. Now, they probably won’t be in shape like the rest of those guys.”

Mahdi, who recently became the co-owner of Dickey’s Barbecue Pit on Thornydale Road, led the Wildcats in rushing with 134 carries for 859 yards and five all-purpose touchdowns in his fourth season of college football, after spending one season at Houston Christian and two seasons at Texas State. The 5-foot-9, 184-pound running back was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week following his 189-yard performance in Arizona’s 23-17 win over Kansas State in Tucson.

Mahdi led a UA running backs room that also featured Kedrick Reescano and Quincy Craig — who are both seniors this season — and freshmen Wesley Yarbrough and Cornelius Warren III.

Reescano, Craig, Yarbrough and Warren all returned for the 2026 season, and the Wildcats added Marshall transfer Antwan Roberts in the transfer portal this offseason. The latter was added to replace Mahdi.

If Mahdi returned to Arizona, the Wildcats will have six running backs on scholarship. Considering the wear and tear running backs endure throughout the season, a deep running backs room is a good problem to have.

“That running back room can be scary sometimes when you have one or two guys go down,” said Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege. “If you bring Mahdi back, you end up being loaded in that room. I don’t want to take anything away from Ked, Quincy, Antwan and Wesley, because the spring and summers that those guys have had, they’ve grown and they’ve gotten bigger and faster and more explosive.

“I don’t see it as, ‘Oh, Mahdi is back, he’s the guy.’ He’s going to have to earn it, too. Quincy is running better than I’ve ever seen Quincy run. Ked is as strong as I’ve ever seen Ked be. And Antwan is moving better than I’ve seen Antwan move. The youngsters, Wesley and Corn, they got a ton of reps this spring because of necessity and it was huge for them. I’m excited to see who emerges in that room. Any time you can bring a good player back, it’s a no-brainer.”

Added first-year Arizona running backs coach Lyle Moevao: “If anything, it adds another body of experience to the room. The one thing he does bring is his experience. The snaps he has played his whole career, it’s irreplaceable. … If you have a four-headed monster as opposed to a three-headed monster like last year, that just gives you more confidence. Now it’s just about practicing and getting those guys ready for game day.”

Harris — who started his college football career at Incarnate Word, Louisiana Monroe and Texas State — had the third-most tackles (78) for the Wildcats last season. Harris trailed safety Dalton Johnson and linebacker Taye Brown in tackles in 2025. Harris played the fifth-most snaps (612) by an Arizona defender last season.

“He’s a great off-the-ball linebacker,” Gonzales said of Harris. “His leadership, his dynamic skills for dissecting plays as they go, that’s stuff you often times can’t coach.”

If the NCAA’s appeal falls through, Arizona will welcome Harris and Mahdi with open arms, mostly because of their renowned reputation amongst the players, in addition to their talent level.

“If they weren’t good guys, we wouldn’t want them back and neither would their teammates,” Gonzales said. “They see the value in those guys. They’re good football players (and) they’re good guys. It’ll be great to have them. It gives us great depth. We’ve got some depth in the linebacker room, but it’ll be even deeper.”

Harris “was a great leader and obviously a big leader for the whole team,” said Arizona senior linebacker Taye Brown. “He would fit right in with the chemistry and it’ll be good for us.”

“Max is a great locker room guy,” Brown added. “Very likable, very coachable and brings a veteran voice to the team.”

Arizona senior linebacker Chase Kennedy added, “His ability to be comfortable in situations where he needs to speak up or address something, I feel like that’s big in being a leader. I feel like not a lot of people want to be in that role, to be the voice of the team. Max was able to do that at an elite level last year. Coach G doesn’t bring back problems and Max was nowhere near that. He’s an all-around great person.”

Mahdi “has a great reputation” on the UA football team and his personal life as a married businessman has garnered him the title as “the uncle of the room,” Moevao said.

“I always looked at Mahdi as a young gentleman with an old soul,” Moevao said. “Being married, that in itself is him showing that he’s a mature gentleman that’s going through real-life situations that these guys have yet to find out about.”

‘A good problem to have’

There is a trickle-down effect to Mahdi and Harris returning. Someone’s piece of Arizona’s production pie could be impacted, especially considering the UA staff addressed the Mahdi- and Harris-sized voids on the depth chart.

Arizona is returning linebackers Myron Robinson, Jabari Mann, Coleman Patmon and Leviticus Su’a, among others, and the Wildcats added Memphis transfer Everett Roussaw and Georgetown transfer Cooper Blomstrom — and freshmen Dash Fifita and Jaden Parker — in the offseason.

Mahdi’s possible return could cut into the reps of the underclassmen (Yarbrough and Warren) and Roberts, who has history in Doege’s offense at Marshall. When asked if Mahdi coming back would disrupt team chemistry, Craig said, “Definitely not.”

“Izzy is a great person,” Craig said. “He’s a great football player. The chemistry is already there with the team now. It wouldn’t be a problem adding him back.”

Reescano said Mahdi “adds that level of leadership to the room. If he did come back, I think it’ll be amazing for the room.”

Six running backs on the depth chart, “is a good problem to have,” Reescano said.

“The lord works in mysterious ways, so whatever is supposed to happen, that’s what it’ll be,” he added. “I’m excited.”

Mahdi and Roberts “have linked up and had good conversations” since the Marshall transfer joined the team.

Adding Harris “would make the linebacker group more competitive,” Kennedy said.

“We all love Max, so having him back would be a blessing,” said Kennedy, who converted from defensive end last season. “His leadership, his skills, it’s something we can bring back into the mix because we know what kind of player and person Max was last year. To have that back would be a blessing and add to what we’ve been building in the summer. … We wouldn’t skip a beat if he came back.

“We all root for each other and we’re unselfish people. Even if he does come back, yeah, it would create a competitive nature and bring that competitive juice, but that’s what teams need, so no one gets comfortable. He’ll be a great addition. We all know what kind of person and player Max is.”

Gonzales, who said returning Harris and Mahdi “gives this team great depth,” doesn’t envision them practicing this week, “because all of that stuff is still happening and they’ve gotta get cleared and all that good stuff.”

Just because they’re cleared to play another season, it doesn’t mean Mahdi and Harris will assume starting roles like last season. After all, they haven’t participated in a mandatory team workout in several months and missed spring practices.

“When they do (get cleared), we’ll see what kind of shape they’re in,” Gonzales said. “It’ll take them a while to get into that phase. The ones we have coming back, I can’t say enough good things.”

Arizona’s depth chart “is not established until we start playing football,” Brennan said. Along with their roles in the offense and defense, Harris and Mahdi will also have roles on Arizona’s special teams units, if they’re granted eligibility for the 2026 season.

"Both of those guys were core special-teamers (and) they played a lot of different roles for us,” Brennan said. “If they were jerks, maybe (there’s reluctancy to add Mahdi and Harris). But this team loves those two guys. Those guys were leaders and well-respected. … The more competition, the better. We want everyone to feel the pressure of competition in the practice environment. We’re trying to elevate the level of play.

“The more competition, the better. Let’s pour some gas on that fire.”

Extra points

– Brennan said the following players will be limited at the start of training camp due to injuries: Roussaw, Robinson, Patmon, safety Daylen Austin, safety Dajon Hinton, safety Hannibal Navies II, running back Anthony Wilhite, wide receiver Scotty Brennan and safety James Pike.

– At Arizona football media day, Brennan said tight end Tyler Powell, safety Gavin Hunter and wide receivers Giovanni Richardson, Chris Hunter and Tre Spivey are among the most improved returners.

– Arizona freshman quarterback Oscar Rios, who was a four-star signee in the Wildcats’ 2026 recruiting class, was limited in the spring due to a surgery on his non-throwing shoulder, but is “making progress” leading up to training camp, Brennan said.

— Arizona was not one of the 25 teams voted in the preseason Coaches Poll, which was announced on Tuesday. No. 12 Texas Tech, No. 15 BYU, No. 21 Utah and No. 24 Houston are the Big 12 representatives in the Coaches Poll. The Ohio State Buckeyes checked in at No. 1, followed by Oregon, Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame, Indiana, Miami, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Ole Miss to round out the top 10. The preseason Associated Press Top 25 Poll will be unveiled on Monday, Aug. 17.