Arizona’s defensive line was a major weakness in 2024, with opponents running wild on the Wildcats and their quarterbacks rarely getting pressured. The UA needed to address this deficiency, starting with hiring ex-UA star Joe Salave’a to coach the unit and then going big on D-linemen on the recruiting trail.
On Saturday, within minutes of each other, Salave’a and Arizona secured commitments from two future studs up front.
The Wildcats have picked up pledges from defensive linemen Manoah Faupusa and Keytrin Harris. Both are 3-star prospects and up the UA’s 2026 class to 19 known commitments.
Harris, from Chandler, is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 440 player in the 2026 class—making him the second highest-ranked Arizona commit, behind only 4-star QB Oscar Rios—as well as the 50th-best defensive lineman in the country and the No. 5 in-state prospect.
I’m 100% COMMITTED @OrtegeJenkins16 @adamgorney @BlairAngulo @ChadSimmons_ #BearDown pic.twitter.com/1iub1st97Z
— Keytrin Harris (@KeytrinHarris27) July 5, 2025
Harris, who plays for AZ Compass Prep, is another very nice, strong addition to the interior defensive line. He is a big strong player, standing at 6-foot-3 and around 295 pounds. He is explosive off the snap and delivers and powerful punch once he makes contact with his blocker. He plays with a high motor and shows that he can overpower his opponent easily. He has nice pad level off the snap that gives him leverage to use his power efficiently. He can also play standing or his hand in the dirt.
On the recruiting front, Harris had 19 reported offers. He chose Arizona over schools such as Missouri, California, Georgia, UCLA, Arizona State, Iowa State, Miami, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and West Virginia. He took four official visits over the past two months: Arizona on May 30, California on June 6, UCLA on June 13 and Missouri on June 20.
Harris is ranked as a high 3-star in 247Sports’s internal rankings, listing him as the No. 74 defensive lineman and the No. 8 player in Arizona.
He has been productive throughout his high school career. As a junior, he played six games for Narbonne High School in Harbor City, Calif. His stats are incomplete, but in three games he tallied 10 tackles, 5 TFL and a sack. As a sophomore, he played for Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. He racked up 50 tackles, 12 TFL, 6 sacks, 16 QB hurries, a forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries and 2 PBUs.
You can view his junior film below.
Faupusa, from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., is ranked 1112th nationally by 247Sports as well as the No. 119 defensive lineman and No. 91 prospect in California.
Faupusa, who’s playing at Santa Margarita Catholic this season, is a nice prospect on the defensive line. Coming in at 6-foot-3 and 350 pounds, he has the size you want along the line of scrimmage, though he will need to slim up a little before he gets to campus. Even so, he moves quite well for someone his size. He eats up blocks and has shown that he can be a disruptor in the offensive backfield. He will need to improve the use of his hands to shed blocks and get a little better with his pad level.
On the recruiting trail, Faupusa had 14 reported offers. Arizona beat out schools like Colorado, North Carolina, USC, Oklahoma State, Washington, Maryland, UCLA, Texas, California and Miami. He took three official visits before the Dead Period: North Carolina on April 10, Colorado on June 16 and Arizona this past weekend.
Ranking-wise, Faupusa has been ranked as a 3-star in 247Sports’ internal rankings. Internally, they have him as the No. 90 defensive lineman and the 68th-best player in California.
Faupusa’s junior campaign was fairly successful. He finished his only season with St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco with 20 tackles, 5 TFL, a sack, 5 QB hurries, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a PBU. In his career (with SICP and Los Alamitos), he has racked up a total of 51 tackles, 7 TFL, 2 sacks, 5 QB hurries, 2 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and 3 PBUs.
You can view his junior season highlights below.
Arizona’s 2026 class now includes four defensive linemen, the others being 3-star edge Las Vegas edge Prince Williams—who committed on Friday—and 3-star Utah edge Harvie Moeai. Faupusa is the Wildcats’ seventh pledge from Texas and Harris makes it three from Arizona.