After an abysmal 4-8 campaign in Brent Brennan’s first season at the helm, the Arizona football program is starting to feel the pressure of a must-win season coming in 2025.
The Wildcats are attempting to address many of their roster issues via the transfer portal, and on Thursday, they added quite an intriguing piece to the defensive side of the football with Alcorn State EDGE Malachi Bailey.
Bailey was thought to have played his final season of college football in 2024, but a recent decision by the NCAA to grant an extra year of eligibility to players from the JUCO level has allowed him to take one final run in Tucson.
Listed at 6-foot-2, 260 pounds, Bailey started his career at Independence Community College and then played three seasons at Alcorn State, recording 128 tackles, 46.5 tackles for loss, and 28 sacks.
A two-time All-SWAC selection (’23, ’24), Bailey should help bolster a defensive line that returns several contributors and also added a familiar face earlier in the week.
The transfer portal officially opened on Monday, December 9, 2024, and will remain open until Saturday, December 28, with an exception for players on teams who play bowl games after the window closes. According to NCAA data, 2,273 FBS football players entered the transfer portal in 2023-24 school year, with 1,558 (68.5%) undergraduates and 715 (31.5%) graduate transfers. Of the entrants, 57% reported that they enrolled in another school, 8% withdrew their names from the portal, and 35% are still active, transferred to a non-NCAA school, or left their sport.
The Heartland College Sports Twitter account is an excellent resource for keeping up with the latest Big 12 news and announcements. Make sure you check out our HCS member forum to connect with other Big 12 sports fans.
