After an all-conference season, defensive lineman Tre Smith is the second former Spartan to join Arizona on National Signing Day. The redshirt-junior and Mesa, AZ native played his high school ball at Red Mountain HS, before joining San Jose State in 2021.
Smith, who primarily plays off the edge, emerged onto the scene this past season for SJSU, finishing with a career-high 66 tackles, including 9.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, and earning first-team All-Mountain West honors.
Before redshirting his sophomore season, Smith had a productive freshman season as well, where appeared in 10 games and tallied 22 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss for 28 yards, and three sacks for 21 yards. With his redshirt, Smith comes to Tucson with two years of eligibility remaining.
Like fellow former Spartan Quali Conley, Smith is reunited with his position coach from SJSU, Joe Seumalo, who had this to say about Tre Smith on National Signing Day: “Tre is your most reliable teammate. He’s the guy that does extra.”
Ryan Stewart is the third ex-San Jose State player to transfer to Arizona on National Signing Day, joining running back Quali Conley and the aforementioned defensive end Tre Smith.
Stewart, a native of Mokena, Illinois, started three games at right guard in 2022, before suffering a season-ending injury that also kept him off the field in 2023.
Following his commitment on Wednesday, offensive line coach Josh Oglesby said Ryan Stewart, has added around 80 pounds, up from 225 pounds to now 305 pounds, since initially signing with the Spartans back in 2021. Oglesby also added that Stewart will, “increase the competition. That’s one thing he is, is very competitive.”
Stewart is set to join one of Arizona’s deepest position rooms in the offensive line. With four starters returning, Stewart will likely compete at reps for left tackle or right guard, depending on where sophomore and former four-star recruit Raymond Pulido, who moved to left tackle for the 2023 Valero Alamo Bowl in place of potential first-round NFL Draft pick Jordan Morgan, lines up for the Cats this fall.