Pitt Plans to Redshirt Senior Wide Receiver
One of Pitt football’s returning wide receivers that was expected to make an impact this season on the two-deep depth chart is now planning to redshirt.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said Thursday that the team plans on redshirting senior wide receiver Censere Lee, who was recovering from a season-ending injury suffered last November.
“He’s ready to go. He’s on scout team every day. We got him on scout team right now. He will be available for four games. We’ll probably redshirt him,” Narduzzi said.
Lee has yet to play in a game this season despite being available and has not appeared on the team’s two-deep depth chart.
“If crap hit the fan on Saturday, CJ would probably be able to go in there and know exactly what he’s doing,” Narduzzi said. “He’s in every receiver meeting. He wants to be fully healthy. That’s just his mindset, which I can get. I shouldn’t say fully healthy. I think he’s fully healthy, but he wants to have our summer prep time. He wants to be at his best, which I think we can all respect. But if we need him, we got him where we want him for four games, which is a bonus.”
Prior to the season opener, Narduzzi said that Lee’s timetable for his recovery shifted throughout the offseason.
“We’re going to be safe and smart with him. He was a starter a year ago, in our opinion. He’s back to maybe 99%. We are just going to be sure. Chris Hanks has done a good job monitoring him, making sure we don’t go too fast ’cause he’s way ahead of schedule. He was behind schedule in January. He has worked his tail off. We thought probably in the summer he was going to be ready by October. He’s ready in September, for sure,” Narduzzi said.
Lee transferred to Pitt after two seasons at Western Carolina. During the 2024 season, he played in 10 games where he caught 19 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Lee saw his first season in Pittsburgh cut short due to an injury suffered a leg injury during Pitt’s matchup against Clemson on Nov. 16.
At Western Carolina (2022-23) under Kade Bell, Lee played in 22 games with 14 starts as he compiled 82 receptions for 1,426 yards and 14 touchdowns.
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