Denver Harris "handling personal matters", not with LSU team

LSU cornerback Denver Harris is away from the football team while he handles “personal matters”, head coach Brian Kelly announced on Wednesday.

Harris has been absent from recent practices during fall camp, and he was not in the team photo the school released on Monday.

The news during fall camp comes after Harris was indefinitely suspended from Texas A&M’s program as a freshman in 2022.

Harris left high school as a five-star prospect and the No. 3 cornerback on the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2022 class.

Denver Harris status remains uncertain as LSU fall camp ends

Denver Harris has been on LSU’s campus since January, and he participated in spring and summer workouts with the team.

The Houston native was not in attendance for multiple fall camp practices this past week, a situation Kelly shed light on during his time with the media following Wednesday’s practice.

“If he takes care of everything, we could have him back this weekend,” Kelly said.

While at Texas A&M a year ago, Harris was suspended for the team’s opener against Miami in September after missing curfew. In late-October, Harris was part of a group of players who were suspended indefinitely following an alleged incident in the team’s locker room.

He never returned to the field for the Aggies after that, and on December 2, Harris entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.

20 days later, the former five-star prospect committed to LSU.

While he missed half the season in College Station, Harris still managed to make an immediate splash. He was named to the On3 2022 Midseason True Freshman All-American Team in October 2022. At the time, Harris had played 211 snaps for the Aggies and surrendered just four completions on 11 targets for just 28 yards. On the four completions, Harris gave up just one yard after the catch.

After Harris transferred from Texas A&M to LSU, Kelly opened up on the decision to bring the former North Shore High standout onto the roster in Baton Rouge.

“Obviously we did a lot of research,” Kelly said in the spring. “This was not a decision where we just said ‘Hey, here’s a great player’. He had to fit. We felt like we did our due diligence in terms of his background. There’s an affiliation with LSU here with his family. He had a lot of people speak on his behalf. He had a number of interviews with (LSU defensive coordinator Matt House) and myself.

“We felt that with the culture we have put together, he would make it here. The culture is really strong. It’s proven to be that he’s done well early on, and he has no choice. He has to make it. Here’s a guy that’s been given a second chance. And we feel like because of the circumstances, the culture is strong, and he knows this is really his last chance at an SEC opportunity, that it was worth the risk.”

What’s next for LSU at cornerback?

Harris had yet to see first-team reps during fall camp, and after the first week, he moved from second-team to third-team reps.

LSU’s top two cornerbacks this month have been Southeastern transfer Zy Alexander and Syracuse transfer Duce Chestnut.

The backups have been a rotation of different players, though sophomore Laterrance Welch – the team’s lone returning scholarship cornerback – and true freshman Ashton Stamps saw second-team reps this week. Other available cornerbacks on roster include freshmen Jeremiah Hughes and Javien Toviano, with Toviano cross-training at multiple positions in the secondary.

Ohio State transfer JK Johnson, one of four transfer cornerbacks the Tigers added to the roster this offseason, is sidelined with a leg injury. Kelly said Johnson is not expected back on the field soon, meaning he’s likely to miss a significant amount of time this fall.