Idaho State defensive end Kainoa Fuiava has entered the transfer portal, the Idaho State Journal confirmed Monday.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA recently approved a rule that allows athletes to transfer once without sitting out a year, although Fuiava would have been immediately eligible anyway as a grad transfer.

Fuiava received his degree from Idaho State in General Studies last weekend. He’ll have one year of eligibility left at his new school.

“I have nothing but love for ISU,” Fuiava told the Idaho State Journal.

The 6-foot-4, 303-pound defensive lineman, originally from Warren High School in Downey, California, went to BYU out of high school.

After two years with the Cougars, he transferred to ISU before the 2018 season and instantly became a fixture on the Bengals’ defensive line, playing all 11 games in 2018 with 50 tackles and a co-team-high two sacks.

He was named honorable mention all-Big Sky Conference after that debut season.

Fuiava’s consistency continued over the 2019 season, when he put up 51 tackles and four sacks, and into the spring 2021 season, when he finished fifth on the team with 27 tackles and tied for second with four tackles for loss.

He was also named honorable mention all-Big Sky after the 2021 season.

MADISON’S WILLS COMMITS TO ISU

The Bengals also picked up a player on Monday, with Dawson Wills announcing his commitment to ISU on Twitter.

Wills, from Madison High School in Rexburg, is the younger brother of sophomore Idaho State linebacker Connor Wills.

Wills, who graduated from Madison in 2020, is listed as a 6-foot-5, 205-pound wide receiver/defensive back on the Bobcats’ 2019 roster.

According to stats from MaxPreps, Wills had 14 catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns that year, and was named second-team all-conference at tight end.