Louisville will be adding a defensive lineman with the potential to be a major difference maker just in time for fall camp.
Former TCU DL Devonte Fields has been cleared to play for Louisville this fall, ESPN reported on Wednesday. Fields told ESPN he will enroll Aug. 4, two days before the team begins fall camp. He received clearance from the school's admissions department on Wednesday, per the report.
At the ACC Football Kickoff event on Tuesday, Cardinals head coach Bobby Petrino said Fields had not yet been academically cleared.
Fields was selected as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2012, when he was a true freshman. He was dismissed from the TCU program last year after allegedly hitting an ex-girlfriend and spent the 2014 season at Trinity Valley Community College. A misdemeanor assault charge stemming from the alleged incident with his ex-girlfriend was recently dismissed after he completed anger management courses.
Fields was considered one of the most talented pass rushers in college football in 2012, but he had an injury plagued 2013 season and NFL Media draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote last month that Fields was unimpressive at the JUCO level in 2014. He'll have to recapture that '12 form in 2015 if he's going to impress scouts.
