A little more than four months ago, Darryl Monroe joined Mike Leach and Connor Halliday at Pac-12 media day. The linebacker had served as a team captain for 10 games the year before and was one of the vocal leaders of the team, primed for a big junior season. Now, 135 days later, Monroe is reportedly no longer a member of the team.

Monroe quit the team on Thursday, according to a report from Cougfan. The reported departure caps an eventful four months. Monroe struggled early in the season, prompting some to speculate he may be dealing with an injury. Whatever the issue was, he simply didn't look like the same player he did during a solid sophomore season. He was benched following the Stanford game, taking a backseat to redshirt freshman Peyton Pelluer. Now, he's apparently opted to forgo his senior season in Pullman. To have a player go from team captain to benched to quitting the team in four months is WSU's 2014 season in a nutshell.

Monroe was a fourth-year junior so it's possible he will receive his degree soon. If that's the case, he would be able to transfer and be eligible to play next year, assuming he fulfills the graduate transfer rules. His reported departure severs the final tie of Paul Wulff's attempt to recruit in Florida. Monroe, Isiah Myers, Henry Eaddy and Spencer Waseem were all part of the 2011 recruiting class. Myers was the only of the four to play out his eligibility.

For WSU, the departure leaves a thin linebacker corps a little thinner. Pelluer played well late in the season and pencils in as the starting middle linebacker. The Cougars will be forced to rely on youth behind him with Chandler Leniu possibly filling out the depth chart. I won't speculate on the state of the locker room, but having a team leader and upperclassman quit the team is never an encouraging sign.

*****

Football:

Director of Athletics Bill Moos Podcast - Washington State University Official Athletic Site

During his latest podcast, conducted Thursday morning, Director of Athletics Bill Moos looks back on Steve Gleason's Hall of Fame induction at the Apple Cup and his pre-game speech to the Cougar Football team.

Who is standing out in WSU's defensive coordinator search? - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Dec. 4, 2014

You hear some names of prospective candidates that make no sense and some that make a lot of sense, and just when you think you've zeroed in on the candidate somebody completely new will get the job. Just take this morning's announcement that Oregon State's Mike Riley will take over at Nebraska when everyone thought the job belonged to Scott Frost, for example.

Men's basketball:

WSU basketball: posts need to step up - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Dec. 4, 2014

Josh Hawkinson has been Washington State's best basketball player in 2014 and continued his strong play yesterday. The 6-foot-10 forward scored 16 points and collected 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.

Vandals reflect on breakthrough against rival WSU - Spokesman.com - Dec. 4, 2014

The next time Idaho senior Connor Hill sees his Washington State men’s basketball friends around the Palouse, he might be tempted to talk a little trash.

Women's basketball:

Galdeira’s 28 Paces Cougars in Win at UC Santa Barbara - Washington State University Official Athletic Site

Washington State received 28 points from junior guard Lia Galdeira in a 81-55 road victory over UC Santa Barbara at The Thunderdome Thursday.