Jay Wilkerson, one of the first Washington State signees under Nick Rolovich, enters transfer portal

The first wide receiver to commit to Washington State under Nick Rolovich is looking to continue his college football career elsewhere.

Jay Wilkerson, a Texas native who initially committed to Rolovich at Hawaii and flipped less than a month after the coach accepted a job at WSU, has entered the NCAA transfer portal, Rivals.com reported Monday.

Wilkerson made his college debut in the second half of WSU’s blowout loss at USC last fall and recently completed his first spring camp with the Cougars, making two catches for a team-high 50 yards in the Crimson and Gray Game. Wilkerson recorded just one other catch, for nine yards, in the team’s two other spring scrimmages.

A three-star prospect who also had college offers to Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota and Oklahoma State, Wilkerson had the ability to play both as an inside receiver but wasn’t considered to be a first- or second-string option at either position by the end of spring camp. Unlike former WSU coach Mike Leach, who played eight receivers, Rolovich uses a strict four-man rotation, making field time difficult to come by for non-starters.

During spring camp, Wilkerson played mostly at the “X” receiver position – a highly-competitive spot that saw Calvin Jackson Jr., walk-on Mitchell Quinn and Donovan Ollie trading reps with the first-team offense.

Without Wilkerson, the Cougars are still expected to have 14 scholarship receivers when the team regroups for fall camp. That group includes returning players Renard Bell, Travell Harris, CJ Moore, Jackson Jr., Ollie, Joey Hobert, Billy Pospisil, Marshawn Buchanan, Brandon Gray and Cedrick Pellum, along with freshmen De’Zhaun Stribling, Orion Peters, Tsion Nunnally and Joshua Meredith. Walk-ons such as Quinn and Lincoln Victor are also expected to compete for playing time in 2021.