The recruiting dead period has swept across the land after a busy spring and summer of official and unofficial visits to colleges for high school prospects. The Arizona Wildcats held one last OV weekend this past weekend and are starting to see that effort come to fruition.
On Sunday, 3-star California running back Brandon Smith announced his commitment to Arizona.
I’m home! Beardown ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xNHZdOJ0tQ
— Brandon Smith 3⭐️ATH (@brandonsmith026) June 29, 2025
Smith, who plays at Central Easy High School in Fresno, is the definition of an athlete. He excels at both sides of the ball and has racked up the stats throughout his career. The Wildcats are looking to bring him in at running back, which will make him a big weapon with his size, 6-foot and 190 pounds. He is shifty and has good vision when he runs, proving to be a surprisingly difficult tackle. He also has the speed to outrun defenders with ease. It’d be interesting to see what he’d look like with another 10 or 15 pounds of muscle on him and if he’d keep his speed.
Smith had 13 reported offers and committed to San Diego State at the end of January. He decommitted from the Aztecs at the end of April. He ended up choosing the Wildcats over California, Utah, Washington State, Boise State, UNLV, Colorado State and Nevada. He took three official visits this month: UNLV on June 6, California on June 12 and was in Tucson this past weekend.
He is ranked as a 3-star in both of 247Sports’ ranking systems. Internally, 247 has him as the No. 24 running back and the 41st-best player in California. In the Composite, Smith checks in as the No. 1,419 player nationally, the No. 86 running back and the 108th-best player in California.
Smith has been wildly productive in his high school career. As a junior, he racked up 1,871 yards on 277 carries and 25 touchdowns on the ground. He notched an additional 354 yards on 31 catches and 2 scores through the air. Defensively, he had 71 tackles, 12.5 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions, 4 PBU, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Smith joins Kaisi Lafitaga as the visitors from the past weekend to pull the trigger on their commitments to Arizona. Smith is the lone running back commit of the 2026 class, which is up to 16 including 4-star quarterback Oscar Rios.
You can view Smith’s offensive and defensive highlights below.