Louisville WR Caullin Lacy expected to redshirt remainder of season

Louisville wide receiver Caullin Lacy will redshirt the remainder of the 2024 season, a source tells On3. The South Alabama transfer broke his collarbone in fall camp and has not been 100% healthy this season.

At South Alabama last season, he totaled a career-high 91 receptions for 1,316 yards and seven touchdowns before entering the portal as a graduate transfer. Against Miami on Saturday, Lacy returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.

“Caullin’s decision to redshirt was a decision that was agreed upon between both parties,” Lacy’s agent David Ben-Zaken told On3 in a statement. “Around a week before the 2024 season, Caullin underwent surgery to repair his collarbone. This injury stemmed from a practice during Fall camp. The estimated time of return from this surgery was 8 weeks. Caullin worked endlessly to recover and rehab as quickly as possible. In 5 weeks post surgery, Caullin returned to play.

“Caullin has not been fully healthy in games played up to this point. He will continue to work through shoulder mobility exercises and prepare to be his best self heading into next season.

“We believe this is in Caullin’s best interest and return healthy for another season. This is not an NIL decision and at this time, Caullin anticipates returning to Louisville for another season. Both parties are working tirelessly to make this happen.”

A source told On3 that Lacy and Louisville are working on a deal for the wide receiver to return for the 2025 season. Lacy ranked No. 5 in the nation this year in receptions (91) and yards (1,316) in 2023. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound receiver had seven touchdown catches, too.

Lacy only played in four games this season, preserving a medical redshirt. An athlete “may be granted an additional year of competition by the conference or the Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement for reasons of ‘hardship,’” according to the NCAA manual.

The waiver comes with the following requirements:

+ Student-athlete triggered use of one of their four seasons of competition
+ The injury must occur before the completion of the first half of the season — 8th contest
+ The quarterback has not participated in 30% of the max number of games — 4
+ Provide medical documentation he cannot compete

In four games with the Cardinals, Caullin Lacy posted 15 catches for 179 yards. Louisville landed the South Alabama transfer in last year’s transfer portal over Oregon, Auburn, Mississippi State and Texas A&M. The wide receiver has posted 2,697 career receiving yards.

“It’s nice having [Lacy] back, finally healthy, at 100 percent,” Louisville special teams coach Karl Maslowski said Wednesday. “We had him for a couple weeks going in where we still weren’t sure 100 percent on his collarbone, so we didn’t want him taking high impact collisions. But then he goes out there and he’s got really good vision, he’s got a great ability to break tackles.”