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Running back Wayne Shanks Jr. committed to Arizona on Friday, marking the fourth 2027 prospect to choose the Wildcats.
Shanks is ranked 40th among his position as the No. 585 player in the class, according to 247 Sports’ composite ranking. He grades out as the Wildcats’ top commitment so far.
The Houston native chose head coach Brent Brennan and Arizona out of a final four that included Kansas, Arkansas and Tulane.
He is Arizona’s first running back to commit in the 2027 class, which also includes tight end Max Markofski and wide receivers Trey Smith and Braylen Ross.
Shanks rushed for 1,787 yards and 24 scores as a junior with 352 yards and six touchdowns through the air, per MaxPreps. He also attempted five passes, completing two for 40 yards and one touchdown.
Scouting analyst for 247 Sports Gabe Brooks evaluated Shanks earlier in May, with the following notes included:
Knows how to shorten steps/strides to press blocks and enter lanes. Shows some sudden jump-cutting ability, including in box traffic. More of a one-speed open-field runner who can better mix in some accel/decel nuance and squeeze some of that top-end juice more effectively. Still working on angles and engaging pop when asked to pass block. Runs hard and gets some yards-after-contact production.
Projects to the Power Four level as an eventual lead-back candidate who can handle a higher workload as a ball carrier and pass-catching option.
Coaches from Arizona’s staff — offensive coordinator Seth Doege and running backs coach Lyle Moevao — visited Shanks’ home on May 6 to cement the connection.
The 2026-27 Arizona State men’s basketball roster has the makings of an NCAA Tournament team entering head coach Randy Bennett’s first season at the helm.
As of Saturday, ASU has the 11th-ranked transfer portal haul in the country, third among teams with new head coaches and the best in the Big 12, according to 247 Sports. The Sun Devils had been outside the top 40 the past three seasons, including down at 70th entering last year.
The last ASU team to make the NCAA Tournament was in 2022-23 behind a transfer haul that ranked 14th with point guard Frankie Collins, center Warren Washington and Cambridge brothers Desmond and Devan.
With the benefit of an extra 16 teams getting a ticket to the Big Dance (24 play-in teams instead of eight previously), Bennett will try to take ASU where he took Saint Mary’s in each of the past five seasons (12 appearances in 25 years).
Following the Thursday addition of Serbian center Filip Malesevic, this year’s roster includes 12 players, 10 of whom are newcomers to Tempe. Three more scholarship spots are open and will likely be filled, as athletic director Graham Rossini continues to highlight ASU’s maximization of the new revenue-sharing model.
Here’s what the starting lineup could look like in Year 1, headlined by No. 10 overall transfer Paulius Murauskas:
Shaw and Murauskas were the only Gaels to follow Bennett from Saint Mary’s. One player previously committed to the Gaels out of high school, combo guard JRob Croy, flipped his pledge to ASU once Bennett took the job.
Croy rounds out the backcourt depth along with Bryce Ford and Vijay Wallace, the pair of returning Sun Devils.
Ford is coming off a recent hip surgery, and Bennett hopes he can return to practice sometime in October. Wallace did not play in 2025-26 after a devastating injury in a preseason exhibition, but he is on track to be fully healthy and available for this season.
Another reliable option to handle the ball and make plays for others is the biggest remaining need, as that’s where depth is most shallow. Multiple additions wouldn’t hurt, either, as ASU’s only player with more than two assists per game in a previous college season outside of Foxwell is Murauskas (2.1).
The wing depth is present but especially young, as Marcus Vaughns (LSU) will turn 19 early in the season and Ajak Nyuon (Australia) turned 19 this week. Neither have logged minutes at the college level yet.
ASU only has a few reliable perimeter shooters to this point, so the wings could use another if it can be found.
Malesevic’s addition solidified the center depth with three 7-footers, the aforementioned Serbian being the tallest at 7-foot-3. Defty, a German native, is more likely to start given his proven prior production at the college level. The third is Nate Garcia, who logged 98 minutes across 16 games while at Cal Baptist playing for new ASU associate head coach Rick Croy.
Top-end size will not be a hindrance on this roster the way it has plagued some previous ASU squads, but the centers’ footspeed will be tested against a very athletic Big 12 schedule.
The waiting game is over. The Arizona Cardinals’ 2026 schedule is out, and boy is it a gauntlet.
Already ranked as one of the toughest schedules before Thursday’s reveal, first-year head coach Mike LaFleur’s 2026 calendar is filled with plenty of twists, turns and title contenders.
A look at the biggest takeaways from Arizona’s regular-season schedule:
A steep uphill climb from the jump
Arizona may have a last-place schedule, but it feels more like a first-place gauntlet.
Based on last year’s win totals, the Cardinals sport the third-toughest schedule in the league.
And a lot of those problem areas for Arizona come right out of the gates.
Across the first seven weeks, the Cardinals face opponents with projected win totals of at least 9.5 games in all but one — the New York Giants (7.5) in Week 4.
The toughest draws early on include all three NFC West foes, with a smattering of the Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos.
Want to go a step further? The Cardinals open up the season with six road games across their first nine games. And for the fourth straight year, Arizona opens up on the road.
No rest for the wicked
Getting a bye week closer to the middle of the season could have really benefited the Cardinals. It could have given LaFleur a bigger sample size to implement tweaks to the system, while potentially giving rookie quarterback Carson Beck an extended ramp-up period before taking the starting reins.
And that’s before mentioning Arizona has an additional preseason game this season (Hall of Fame Game), only adding to season’s length.
Instead, Arizona gets the latest bye possible in Week 14. Out of the bye, that leaves just four games left in the regular season.
The only other times the Cardinals have had this late of a bye in the past was in 1991 and 2023.
For what it’s worth, Arizona posted four wins in each of those seasons.
Announcer voice: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!
After getting shut out of any international games, the Cardinals were one of five teams kept off the primetime slate entirely. The New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders round out the group.
That means a whole lot of Sundays!
The only game that could fall on a different day currently is the Cardinals’ Week 18 tilt against the San Francisco 49ers.
But even then, it’s Saturday or Sunday.
Playing meteorologist
You never know with weather but based on where Arizona’s open-air games fall on the schedule, it may have avoided the worst of it.
Getting their trip to New York out of the way in Week 4 is a big plus for the Cardinals. And although games in Seattle, Kansas City and Washington fall in the back half of the schedule, all fall before December hits.
A small win in an otherwise brutal schedule.
The home stretch
On the flip side of starting out the season on the road more often than not, the Cardinals get a late-season reprieve with six of their final eight games at home.
Arizona has just one road game across the final seven weeks of the season.
Confidence builders
On top of those home tilts, the Cardinals also get a lengthy break from playoff contenders with three straight games against the Jets (Week 15), New Orleans Saints (Week 16) and Las Vegas Raiders (Week 17). New Orleans has the highest projected win total at 7.5 games. The others sit at 5.5.
For a team with low expectations, this is a stretch it could potentially capitalize on, especially if and when Beck is running the show.
Knowing two of those games (Jets and Raiders) will be played at State Farm Stadium only adds to that thinking.
As for wrapping up against the 49ers in Week 18, that’s another story.
The full NFL schedule doesn’t officially drop until 5 p.m. MST on Thursday, but that hasn’t stopped the leaks from pouring in.
It was a relatively quiet morning for the Arizona Cardinals compared to a lot of the other teams in the league.
A running list at the latest reports regarding the Cardinals’ 2026 regular season schedule:
For a fourth-straight season, Arizona will reportedly open up the year on the road.
This time, it’ll travel to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers, based on process of elimination through the official international game schedule and multiple reports around the league.
Of Arizona’s opponents, San Francisco, Los Angeles (Rams), Dallas, New York (Giants), Denver, Kansas City and Seattle are all on the primetime slate in Week 1.
Other reports indicate the New York Jets will take on the Tennessee Titans, and the Las Vegas Raiders will face the Miami Dolphins in their respective season openers. The Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders are expected to square up, while the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions will go at.
That leaves the Chargers are the last team standing for Arizona’s Week 1 tilt.
Los Angeles has made the playoffs in each of the past two season under head coach Jim Harbaugh. It has posted back-to-back 11-6 records.
Arizona’s first schedule leak has the franchise heading to New York in Week 4 for a game against the Giants.
After floundering at 3-14 and 4-13 the past two seasons, respectively, New York swung big and landed on head coach John Harbaugh to turn things around.
And yes, running back Cam Skattebo is still on the roster for any inquiring Arizona State fans.
A look at the opponents Arizona faces in 2026:
Home
– San Francisco 49ers
– Los Angeles Rams
– Seattle Seahawks
– Philadelphia Eagles
– Washington Commanders
– Denver Broncos
– Las Vegas Raiders
– New York Jets
– Detroit Lions
Away
– San Francisco 49ers
– Los Angeles Rams
– Seattle Seahawks
– Dallas Cowboys
– New York Giants
– Kansas City Chiefs
– Los Angeles Chargers
– New Orleans Saints
The NFL schedule reveal will take place at 5 p.m. MST and can be watched on ESPN and the NFL Network.
