Washington State walk-on's hometown dream comes full circle with first career catch

Pullman native Caleb Northcroft grew up cheering for the Cougars. Now he's making memories of his own at Martin Stadium

Washington State Cougars wide receiver Caleb Northcroft. | Photo courtesy of Washington State University Athletics

Growing up in the shadow of Washington State University football, Caleb Northcroft attended 70 to 80 home games at Martin Stadium.

Northcroft made visits to late former Cougars coach Mike Leach’s office accompanied by his father, Marty, who played for the team in the 1990s, and worked on campus in marketing.

As a do-everything athlete at Pullman High School in football, basketball and baseball, he had a particular fondness for a pair of WSU wide receivers - River Cracraft and Gabe Marks.

“It’s a familiar place,” Northcroft said.

And in a full-circle moment Saturday, Northcroft - who joined the WSU team in July as a walk-on transfer from perennial NCAA D3 playoff program Whitworth - saw his first offensive snap in the team’s 26-20 loss to San Diego State.

On that snap, he hauled in his first pass - an 11-yard completion from Owen Eshelman in the first half.

“Being here, it’s kind of surreal,” Northcroft said.

Washington State Cougars wide receiver Caleb Northcroft. | Photo courtesy of Washington State University Athletics

Like at many small schools, Northcroft was one of the team’s best athletes. So, he played all over, including quarterback in high school as a junior and for part of his senior season before moving back to wide receiver.

By then, he began to see a future in football. He was set to go to the University of Puget Sound out of high school - until Redlands University, another NCAA D3 program, came in at the last second to convince him to enroll there.

Northcroft stayed one season before transferring to Whitworth in Spokane, where he hauled in 30 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns, including a one-handed, highlight-reel touchdown reception against Linfield that still makes the rounds on social media.

“My all-time highlight, for sure,” Northcroft said.

Northcroft’s plan all along was to play at a small school, then hopefully join a bigger university as an invited walk-on.

Washington State Cougars wide receiver Caleb Northcroft. | Photo courtesy of Washington State University Athletics

“You cannot plan on that happening,” Northcroft said.

Unless you have the hometown connections he has about WSU.

In June, Northcroft was working a Whitworth team camp when word got to him that a receiver who committed to WSU had backed out.

Northcroft talked to his coaches at Whitworth about the opportunity to go home and try to walk on at WSU. They understood and told him to immediately get in the transfer portal so he could officially talk to the Cougars’ coaching staff.

After that, Northcroft contacted Brad Larrondo, the general manager of the WSU football team, about scheduling a campus meeting to discuss a walk-on opportunity.

“Everything lined up good,” Northcroft said.

A week later, he moved home, joined the team, and began his slow move up the depth chart as a wide receiver.

“This has all exceeded my expectations as a walk-on,” Northcroft said. “My first goal in July was to make the travel team, then hopefully get on the two-deep.

“These are moments I don’t take for granted.”