Defensive tackle Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei will find out whether he can play one final year with the Huskies this week.
The Washington Huskies football team began the season waiting for the status of a pair of potential upperclassmen contributors.
During fall training camp, fifth-year kicker Grady Gross and fifth-year defensive tackle Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei both suited up for the Huskies during practice.
The two were able to come back to the program for a fifth year after briefly being granted that extra season of eligibility in a class-wide injunction filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado.
The legal case was due to several players filling suit against the NCAA related to the organization's new rules on college eligibility.
The NCAA changed its rules from four years of eligibility to five and did away with redshirts and medical waivers in the process. Players from as far back as the Class of 2023 were grandfathered into the new rules, but the Class of 2022 players weren't.
As a result, Gross and Uiagalelei's college careers were thought to be over after the 2025 season.
The injunction allowed Gross and Uiagalelei to return to practice, but their return was brief as a judge in the 10th District Court of Appeals ordered a stay on the injunction filed in Colorado.
This ruling meant that Gross and Uiagalelei weren't able to practice or play with UW. However, either could still be granted that fifth year in court in state court.
Gross, who had to file in Arizona court, was granted his fifth year earlier this season and has completed several in-game kickoffs since.
Based on comments made by Washington head coach Jedd Fisch in a weekly news conference Monday, Uiagalelei should find out his fate before the team's upcoming road game against the No. 18 Southern California (USC) Trojans, which will take place Oct. 3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.
"We should know something by, I believe, Oct. 1," Fisch said. "That will be the final answer."
Uiagalelei played one season with the Huskies after spending three years with the Arizona Wildcats. He started in all 13 games for Washington last season and finished with 20 total tackles (11 solo), including four tackles for loss and two sacks. He finished his year with one pass defended.
Washington has opted for a balance of experience and youth on the team this year. That extends to the defensive line's starters, first-year players Ramzak Fruean (edge rusher) and Derek Colman-Brusa (defensive tackle) and fourth-year players Jacob Lane (edge rusher) and defensive tackle Elinneus Davis.
If Uiagalelei is granted that fifth year, he could provide valuable experience and depth on a defensive line that already looks like the strongest unit on the team through the first four weeks of the season.
