As it happens, Devin Lucien‘s transfer will be an intraconference and an intradivision one.
Overnight, ESPN.com‘s Joe Schad first reported and the Arizona Republic‘s Doug Haller subsequently confirmed, Lucien revealed that he has decided transfer to Arizona State and finish out his collegiate career playing for the Sun Devils. The move, which has yet to be confirmed by ASU, comes nearly a month after the wide receiver decided to leave UCLA.
According to the player, a current Sun Devil factored into his decision.
As noted in the tweet above, Lucien will enter ASU as a graduate transfer, which means he will be eligible to play immediately in 2015. And, with the Sun Devils looking for help in replacing Jaelen Strong’s lost production (82-1,165-10) and losing Cameron Smith (41-596-6) to a March knee injury that will cost him the entire 2015 season, having Lucien onboard will certainly aid in that endeavor.
Last season, Lucien’s 29 receptions were second on the team, although he averaged just 7.8 yards per catch. During summer camp leading up to the 2014 season, Lucien sustained a head injury in practice serious enough that he was taken to a local hospital via ambulance. Released the following day, Lucien passed a concussion test and returned to practice less than a week later.
In 2013, Lucien overcame a back injury to start three of the 13 games in which he played, catching 10 passes for 208 yards. The year before, he was the team’s third-leading receiver (10-188) before a broken clavicle knocked him out for the remainder of the regular season.
Lucien’s loss to UCLA, on the other hand, will be a minimal one as, outside of him, the Bruins will return their top seven leading pass catchers.
The Bruins, incidentally, will host the Sun Devils Oct. 3 of this year. Those two programs, UCLA in 2011 and 2012 and ASU in 2013, combined to win the first three Pac-12 South titles before Arizona wrested the the division crown away in 2014.