Winston Jr. living his dream with Washington State

By Scott Hansen / The Seattle Times

PULLMAN — Easop Winston Jr. dreamed as a kid of playing Pac-12 football.

But it sure seemed unlikely after he finished playing at Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif.

“I didn’t have any offers after my senior year,” said the Washington State junior receiver. “I played in all the games, but I hadn’t hit my peak yet. I didn’t even have Division III (offers). No one came after me, so I knew I had to go the junior college route.”

That is what he did, and five years later, he is living his dream. Winston is fourth on the Cougars with 44 receptions, for 561 yards, and is tied for the team lead with seven touchdown receptions.

More important, he has come through in the biggest moments, catching the game-winning 84-yard touchdown in a 28-24 win over Utah, and catching the game-winning 10-yard touchdown with 32 seconds remaining in a 19-13 win over California.

The Cougars (9-1, 6-1 Pac-12) might need another big game from Winston on Saturday night when they host Arizona (5-5, 4-3), which has won its past two games. Winston said there is no way the Cougars are looking past Arizona with the Apple Cup next week.

“We know we have to take it one week at a time,” Winston said, undoubtedly pleasing head coach Mike Leach by using that line. “Arizona is a good football team and we can’t look past them. That’s our focus this weekend. When we get to Washington, we will focus on them.”

Winston, 5-feet-11 and 190 pounds, is used to waiting. He elected to go to San Francisco City College, but grayshirted, meaning he delayed enrollment until after the season to preserve a year of eligibility.

“I expected to play right away, but I had a talk with my mom and my dad, and they told me I had to get into the weight room,” he said. “That was only my third year playing receiver. I just had to get used to it and that was when I really developed my game. When the season came, I just trusted my instincts.”

It worked. In two seasons at San Francisco CC, he caught 133 passes for 2,157 yards and 24 touchdowns. Finally, he had the attention of recruiters, and signed with Washington State.

But once in Pullman, he had to play the waiting game again, as the team decided to redshirt him. He said having waited a year before playing in junior college helped him cope last year.

“It kind of sucked when I first got the news, I am not going to lie, but my mom always tells me, ‘Control what you can control,’” he said. “That’s what I did. I worked on techniques of a receiver, watched a lot of video and did a lot of cardio so that when this year came, I would be in the best position to get onto the field and produce. So I just focused on the things I could control and worked on my game as a whole.”

It has obviously paid off. He said he can’t choose between the catch against Utah or the one versus Cal as his favorite. He relishes getting those big opportunities.

“Coach (Leach) always preaches, ‘Be the guy who wants the ball. Always want the ball to come to you.’ So when we get in those situations, I am making sure I do what I can to get open for my quarterback,” Winston said. “But it’s a team effort. It’s Gardner (Minshew) putting the ball on the money, the O-line blocking their butts off — but definitely, I look to have the ball in those situations.”

The situations could get bigger in the coming weeks. Winston is enjoying being a big part of the team’s success.

“It is so fun, but at the same time, we still have our heads down,” he said. “We know the position we are in as team, but we got Arizona and we got Washington, and we’ve just got to handle business. It’s definitely a joy seeing everyone’s faces in the position we are in, but we’ve still got work to do.”