DJ Lagway and Baylor just stole another major WR target from Louisville football

Louisville football received a major blow early Monday morning as the Cardinals learned one of their top wide receiver commitments, Hardley Gilmore IV, had flipped his commitment from the Louisville Cardinals to the Baylor Bears. Louisville fans were excited to see the Kentucky transfer player for the Cards after he took a massive leap this past season, earning 28 receptions for 313 yards and a touchdown.

Gilmore was the second-highest wide receiver commitment this offseason for Jeff Brohm, as he was only behind Vanderbilt commitment Tre Richardson. Now, Louisville will look to replace Gilmore and add another wide receiver, as the Cardinals need at least one more in the room. The Cards lost seven receivers from last season, including their top two receivers in Chris Bell and Caullin Lacy.

So, when Louisville fans were trying to find a name to replace Gilmore, the first thought for many was Colorado transfer Dre'lon Miller. However, that was a short-lived thought, as minutes after Gilmore committed to Baylor, Miller followed suit and committed to Baylor as well.

Louisville football strikes out on key WR target

The Cardinals were among the top teams in the running for the Colorado transfer, as they recently hosted Miller late last week.  Louisville was in a recruiting battle with Kentucky, Texas A&M, and Baylor, but it appears the DJ Lagway effect is real, as the former 5-star quarterback recently committed to the Bears, and now Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears are stealing multiple wide receiver targets from Louisville.

Miller was ranked as a consensus 4-star recruit out of high school, as he ranked as high as No. 39 overall and the No. 12 wide receiver in the 2024 recruiting class. The elite wide receiver logged a combined 155 receptions for 2,571 yards and 43 receiving touchdowns in his high school career. Louisville fans were also possibly thinking he might be able to replace Caullin Lacy at punt return, as he played special teams in high school, earning 117 yards on 16 punts and 272 yards on 13 kickoffs.

Then he got off to a hot start with Colorado, earning 32 catches for 277 receiving yards and three touchdowns in his true freshman season. However, Deion Sanders moved him to running back last season, resulting in a drop in production as he caught only 20 passes for 158 yards and one touchdown. Miller ranked as high as No. 175 overall and the No. 42 wide receiver in the Transfer Portal

Now, Louisville must look for another wide receiver after losing Gilmore to Baylor, and it won’t be Miller. The Cardinals are in conversations with a couple of key targets, but the two that stand out are Texas transfer DeAndre Moore Jr. and Syracuse transfer Darrell Gill Jr.

Related: 5 players on the Louisville's Transfer Portal wish list after landing Tre Richardson

For all the latest recruiting news and updates for Louisville football, stay tuned.