Who’s staying and who’s going, as Washington State enters a period of transition once again

We’re two days away from Washington State’s 10th bowl game since 2013, but the questions remains: Who’s going to play in this thing?

That’s the state of college football these days, with the transfer portal becoming almost a college sports currency. We’ve been a victim of the portal many times more than we’ve been a valued recipient.

Our Cougs find themselves in Boise now, but who came along for the ride? We don’t know since we don’t have boots on the ground, but Greg Woods of The Spokesman-Reviewhas a transfer tracker that gives us some time to guess.

The most notable name for me is probably Kirby Vorhees, who we do know will not play on Monday, according to Woods. That leaves original starter Angel Johnson as the presumed go-to running back, with Maxwell Woods and Leo Pulalasi in the fold as well.

Two other notable players who intend to transfer are Tony Freeman and Anthony Palano. Freeman was one of the more reliable receivers, while Palano was poised to have a promising career after being in the starting lineup at the start of the season. He lost that starting job, but he’s still young.

We’ll see who plays in the bowl game, as interim head coach Jesse Bobbit said all players who intend to transfer are still welcome to play. We’ll also see which players follow Jimmy Rogers to Iowa State.

New head coach Kirby Moore has his work cut out for him, as WSU looks to yet another offseason of major roster turnover.

Speaking of transfers….

Y’all see John Mateer last night? I felt for the guy, as I hoped he’d be able to knock of Alabama for a second time this season. Alas, the former Wazzu quarterback was felled by a brutal pick-six and some special teams that lost its mojo at the worst possible time.

And it’s not just WSU football that has become a farm team of sorts. Men’s basketball is looking that way, too—at least the Kyle Smith era is. Let’s do a quick rundown of players who were at WSU under Smith and are now elsewhere:

Oscar Cluff

The big Australian is now the starting center for the no. 6-ranked Purdue Boilermakers. Cluff averaged seven points a game while playing about 20 minutes a night at WSU before transferring to South Dakota State where he became a key player. He moved on to Purdue this past offseason and is averaging 12.4 points a game.

Myles Rice

The one-time WSU star moved on to Indiana where things didn’t go great, though not poorly, either. He’s now at Maryland still trying to find his footing and he does have two starts under his belt through seven games.

Rueben Chinyelu

His minutes have gone up each season after transferring to Florida. Oh yeah—he also won the national championship last season.

Dylan Darling

Darling probably got thrown into the fire a bit too early at WSU, which was a bummer because Spokane-area basketball viewers knew who good he could be after watching him dominate at Central Valley High School. Darling transferred to Idaho State where he started all 28 games he appeared in while averaging 19.8 points. He parlayed that into a roster spot at St. John’s where he now plays nearly 20 minutes a night.

Isaiah Watts

Watts is reunited with Rice at Maryland where he averages 21 minutes a night.