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PROVO — Darius Lassiter tried to stay positive, to not let it reflect in his interactions with friends and teammates as he enrolled at BYU during winter semester and reported to offseason workouts. But in the back of his mind, he had a few doubts.
The senior wide receiver wasn't sure if he had played his final down of college football.
The Eastern Michigan transfer had spent the 2022 season with the Eagles, grabbing 40 catches for 471 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games. This came a year after he transferred from Butler Community College, where the 6-foot-3, 205-pound son of former Kansas and Arizona Cardinals great Kwamie Lassiter played from 2019-21.
So after finishing his 365-yard, four-touchdown campaign with the Cougars in 2023, Lassiter faced a decision. He could declare for the NFL draft, like his brother Kwinton did at Kansas, and try to join another brother Kwamie II in the league, or he could come back to college for one final season — a decision that would require a waiver from the NCAA to return a year in which he played in just one game in 2019 at Butler.
"I was still going through workouts here, and I didn't want to let the guys see me down or anything like that," Lassiter told KSL.com after practice Monday. "Anytime I came in, I had a smile on my face. I didn't want them to think anything was wrong. And then, if push came to shove, I was going to let them know as a team that I wasn't coming back.
"The nerves were still there, but once we got it back, it was a big sigh of relief. I knew I was going to be fine where I was going to land, but having this opportunity to come back with the team and the guys who push me to be better every day, you don't get that kind of opportunity often."
By now, you've probably guessed the ending: Lassiter received a waiver from the NCAA to play one more year of college football this fall in the Cougars' second season in the Big 12, hoping to build on an inaugural season that started 4-1 before ending with just one win in BYU's final seven games at 5-7.
That's why Lassiter joined a veteran receiving corps as the Cougars started their second week of spring practices, a group that also includes Kody Epps, Chase Roberts, Keelan Marion and Keanu Hill. But Lassiter's return is a little different.
His coaches, candidly, weren't sure if he'd be back.
"He (Lassiter) always wanted to come back, but we had to paint a real picture with an appeal, which is really hard to get," wide receivers coach Fesi Sitake said. "It's been case-by-case lately, but more appeals have been denied than are accepted, so we had to have low expectations with high hopes. Luckily, his case was very understandable and we're grateful the NCAA granted his year back, because he deserved it."
With the sixth-year senior back in the rotation, the Cougars return six receivers who played in 2023, plus Hill, who has moved to tight end. The group also includes Parker Kingston, the former Roy High track star who will be a redshirt sophomore in 2024; and Jojo Phillips, the 6-foot-5 one-time Sierra Canyon basketball standout who played in three games while utilizing his redshirt a year ago.
"Last year was kind of a learning opportunity for me, transitioning from the MAC to the Big 12," Lassiter said. "A lot of plays are the same, but the speed of the game went up. Having that year to learn and see what I can do against this competition, I feel like I can now build on that and prove that I'm better than all of those plays I made and continue to build on that."
In that group of six, four are redshirt juniors or older, and Kingston is a third-year sophomore. It's a savvy group, an older group, and one where Lassiter fits right in.
"I think all of Cougar Nation saw (last year) the kind of player he is," said Sitake, who said he's never had more veteran leadership in seven years at BYU. "He brings toughness, experience, all things that we need as we head into a big second year in the Big 12. I'm grateful to his leadership, and you can already tell after three practices that his presence is felt in playmaking and as a vocal leader."
And when that time comes for Lassiter to follow his older brothers and their late father into the NFL, he'll be ready. His best days of football are ahead of him.
It will just be nice that he gets an extra year of college football to prepare for that time.
"I want to be an every-down type of player," Lassiter said. "A lot of guys can make a couple of big plays every now and then, but I want to make a play every down, every snap, every time the ball comes to me and show that this guy has a different type of motor. … My biggest thing is being consistent; consistency will get you a lot of places. Anybody that is consistent will be able to last long in this game."
