Washington State explores bringing back two players who may be grated additional eligibility | Fall camp

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Aug. 18—PULLMAN — At Washington State fall camp practices, players are split into two groups. Players on offense wear crimson practice jerseys, while defenders wear white jerseys. That makes everyone pretty easily identifiable.

It also makes it easy to spot those who aren't wearing either one.

Present at Tuesday's WSU fall camp practice was former defensive tackle Soni Finau, who wore his gray No. 53 cutoff sweatshirt, standing behind the Cougars' defensive sideline. After playing one season with WSU last season, Finau ran out of eligibility, but thanks to a new NCAA ruling giving extra eligibility to players from the high school class of 2022, he is exploring a return to the team.

WSU's compliance office is working with Finau on his potential renewed eligibility, a team spokesman confirmed to The Spokesman-Review on Tuesday, shortly after the Cougars' 11th practice of fall camp. The sides have lots of details to work through, which is why Finau won't be added to the roster immediately amid an uncertain timeline. But the Cougars' end goal is to get Finau ready to return to play.

That's not the only player who could return to WSU under the new ruling. The Cougars have also been in contact with former offensive lineman AJ Vaipulu, The Spokesman-Review has learned, a one-year Coug who started all 13 games last season at right guard. Vaipulu played for the San Antonio Gunslingers of the Indoor Football League earlier this summer, and he sustained a minor knee injury, making his timeline for a potential return to WSU uncertain as well.

Those are the only two former WSU players the team is exploring bringing back into the fold, according to multiple sources.

How could they fit into the team? After playing the first three years of his career at FCS Cal Poly, Finau transferred to WSU for the 2025 season, making 3.5 sacks and 12 tackles in all 13 games. He played a backup role, which is likely the kind of gig he could earn on this WSU defensive line, which already profiles as deep: likely starters Kaden Beatty and Paul Hutson join transfers Jirah Leaupepetele, Damarjhe Lewis, Balaam Miller and others.

As for Vaipulu, his fit is a little more hazy. The Cougars have established what looks like their starting offensive line: left tackle Ashton Tripp, left guard Kyle Martin, center Noah Dunham, right guard Nick Bakken and right tackle Jonny Lester. Their second-team offensive line has also begun to take shape. Last season, Vaipulu allowed just one sack in 480 pass-blocking snaps and finished with an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 51.2, which is below average.

Still, both Finau and Vaipulu's potential returns come on unpredictable timelines, which makes evaluating their potential fits tricky. The possibility stems from the NCAA's new 5-for-5 eligibility rule, which grants athletes five seasons of action over a five-year period, beginning with the year of their enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday — whichever comes first. But importantly, the NCAA excluded athletes in the class of 2022 from this rule change, opening the door for those players to earn one more season of eligibility if they ran out following the 2025 campaign.

That much is uncertain. What is far more clear: The Cougars' offense roared back to life in Tuesday's practice.

The top highlights belonged to quarterback Caden Pinnick, who has been atop the team's QB rotation for the past several practices, seemingly with a leg up on returners Julian Dugger and Owen Eshelman in the race for the starting job. In the portion of practice at Rogers Practice Field, Pinnick tossed three straight touchdown passes in a redzone simulation drill: One a short completion to receiver Daniel Blood, the next a sleek side-arm toss to receiver Tony Freeman for a walk-in touchdown, then one where he scrambled around to keep the play alive, then laced a pass in the back of the end zone to wideout Darrius Clemons.

When things shifted over to Gesa Field, as they have for the past handful of practices, Pinnick looked just as sharp. He took a simulated sack from second-team linebacker Isaiah Hung before finding Freeman for another big gain, showing off the intermediate accuracy that he's used to rise into the lead for the starting role. In one sequence, after completing short passes to Clemons and tight end Jack Pedersen, he scrambled around and lasered a pass to the end zone for Clemons — who caught it, but he couldn't stay in bounds.

That was part of a competition that pitted different mixes of players against each other. Pinnick and the Cougars' first-team offense often went against their first-team defense, but the team's third-team offense also went up against the second-team defense. Both Dugger and Eshleman turned in nice plays: Dugger rolled out on a play-action pass to find a wide-open touchdown for tight end Peyton Read, while Eshelman also rolled out near the red zone, but he called his own number and bolted some 20 yards for his own touchdown.

It's an important development for WSU offensive coordinator Matt Miller and his units, which have often been on the wrong end of defenders' dominant days during this fall camp. Most of these 11 practices have belonged to the Cougar defense, which has looked ferocious thanks to plays from defensive ends Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk, safeties Jeremiah Bernard and Jaylen Thomas, plus countless others.

"He's a solid kid, very physical player," WSU safeties coach Greg Burns said of Bernard. "He's got a good mental aspect to it, and he's got a savvy about the game. I call it a style of play. He's aggressive, and I think what we're doing, the system we have, is going to showcase his ability."

Also of note from Tuesday's practice: After turning in a flawless kicking performance across the first 10 days of fall camp, starting kicker Jack Stevens finally misfired for the first time, which came on a 34-yard attempt. Not long after, though, Stevens bounced back and connected on a 48-yard attempt, underscoring the accuracy that has put him in line for WSU's placekicking duties for a second straight season.

Notes

—Former WSU head coach Paul Wulff was in attendance for Tuesday's practice. He compiled an overall record of 9-40 in four seasons with the Cougars before moving to the same job at Cal Poly, where he was fired after last season, going 10-24 in three seasons with the Mustangs

—Cornerback Kai Rapolla, who has been repping with the second-team defense, made a nice pass-breakup on wideout Branden Ganashamoorthy in the end zone

—Linebacker Isaiah Hung, who has also been working with the Cougars' second-team defense, picked up a simulated sack on Dugger

—Ganashamoorthy hauled in a tough sideline catch, reeling in the ball over contests by Hung and cornerback CJ Solis-Lumar

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