Washington State president Kirk Schulz released a statement Monday relaying his thoughts from Friday morning, when 5 Pac-12 programs announced their intent to leave the conference in 2024.

Schulz laid out the full details of the morning from Washington State’s point of view, noting that he woke up on Friday genuinely believing that the conference would accept a subscription-based media rights deal with Apple. Instead, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah announced their departure from the conference.

Below is an excerpt from the statement, the entirety of which you can find here.

On Friday morning, we were shocked when the University of Washington and the University of Oregon announced they had accepted Big Ten invitations. I genuinely felt that on Friday morning we would sign the needed paperwork, finalize the deal with Apple, and move the Pac‑12 toward a new and brighter future.

Schultz also laid out the plan for Washington State moving forward, saying he will continue to look for a suitable home for the athletics program.

Here’s his statement on the future of Washington State:

Immediately after the decision, Pat Chun and I started reaching out to colleagues around the nation to start working on options for Cougar Athletics. We talked with multiple conference commissioners, presidents and chancellors, athletic directors, and other leaders in college athletics. These efforts continued through the weekend — and will continue until we find a suitable home for Washington State athletics. I am in regular contact with the leaders from the remaining Pac‑12 schools and will continue to do so moving forward. Because these conversations are often confidential, we are not able to provide updates on whom we are talking to and when. At this point, we are pursuing every possible opportunity to ensure that we have multiple options moving forward.