WSU WR Devin Ellison no longer with team, finishing Cougar career with just two games played

PULLMAN – Devin Ellison’s time at Washington State has come to an end.

A junior college transfer wide receiver, Ellison is no longer with the Cougars, a team spokesman confirmed Saturday evening. He is not listed on WSU’s online roster anymore. He finishes his Cougar career with just two games played.

Ellison, who transferred from Monterey Peninsula College (California) to WSU last winter, played just 19 snaps in two games with WSU. After missing each of the first three games with what coach Jimmy Rogers called a heel contusion, Ellison made his debut in WSU’s loss to rival Washington, catching three passes for 52 yards and a touchdown.

Ellison played the following week, in WSU’s road win over Colorado State on Sept. 27, but he played just seven snaps and recorded no other statistics.

It brings an end to a winding saga. Last offseason, shortly after Rogers accepted the team’s head coaching job, the Cougs made a big splash in landing a commitment from Ellison. His finalists on the recruiting trail included UCF and Boise State, the latter of which made last year’s College Football Playoff, so his acquisition was seen as a huge one for Washington State.

Instead, he never became a consistent part of the Cougars’ wide receiver rotation. He didn’t play in WSU’s loss to Ole Miss because he had sustained an ankle roll in that week’s practice, Rogers said, and because the team’s offense looked good early. But Ellison didn’t play in WSU’s next game either, a loss to Virginia, and Rogers said Ellison was healthy for that game.

“I think a lot of this stems from, you gotta be healthy,” Rogers said the following Monday. “And you gotta through a week’s worth of practice staying healthy. You gotta know what you’re doing when you’re out there. And we’ve gotten into a rhythm right now, where players that are at practice, that are going through practice, that get the reps.”

“We gotta trust that they know what they’re doing, because they’re the ones that are taking the reps. And then when you get reps, you can’t make mental mistakes. You gotta be able to execute. You gotta do the little things right.”

A native of the Atlanta area, Ellison spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons at FCS Southern University, where he never saw the field due to academic issues. Those followed him to Monterey Peninsula, where he was also ineligible for the 2023 season. He couldn’t play that season because, as Monterey Peninsula’s then-offensive coordinator explained it, Southern hadn’t sent over Ellison’s transcripts to Monterey Peninsula in time.

It’s impossible to know for sure, but WSU’s offense could have used Ellison this season. He wasn’t healthy for the entirety of fall camp either – he missed a handful of practices with the same heel injury – but he made several highlight plays, including a long touchdown pass from QB Jaxon Potter. That kind of deep threat figured to make the Cougs’ offense even more robust.

Throughout the beginning of the season, Ellison’s status was never clear. He was seen with his foot in a boot before WSU’s season-opener against Idaho on Aug. 30. He didn’t wear the boot again, but he missed each of the next two games with the injury. At one point, Rogers said “he’s just dealing with the heel contusion thing that we can’t figure out.”

On Sept. 10, asked to clarify those comments, Rogers said “he’s getting back in the flow of things, and he’s not in the rotation as of right now. Ellison made his season debut 10 days later against UW.

Wherever he ends up next, Ellison will likely get this season back. He played in fewer than four games, ostensibly making himself eligible for a redshirt season.