Notre Dame WR Kevin Austin to Miss 2019 Season; Was Suspended 1st 4 Games

Notre Dame wide receiver Kevin Austin will miss the entire 2019 season, according to Irish Illustrated's Tim Prister.

Bryan Driskell of Blue & Gold Illustrated reported Austin would already serve "an unofficial suspension for a violation of team rules" that ruled him out for the first four games.

Austin made four appearances as a freshman in 2018, catching five passes for 90 yards.

The Pompano Beach, Florida, native was the No. 14 wideout and No. 82 player overall in the 2018 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

With a full season under his belt and the team's leading receiver Miles Boykin now in the NFL, Austin was seemingly poised to play a larger role in the offense in 2019.

However, The Athletic's Pete Sampson wrote in June the odds of him suiting up for the opener Sept. 2 against Louisville were looking slim. Sampson noted the circumstances of Austin's situation were unclear but pointed to two similar cases:

"I wouldn't expect [head coach Brian Kelly] to go any further on the Austin subject between now and Louisville, which is how he played the scenario with Kevin Stepherson and Dexter Williams the past two seasons. Both were suspended for the season's first four games for a second offense of Notre Dame's marijuana policy, which amounts to missing one-third of competition for that sport’s regular season. For football, that’s a four-game suspension."

Sampson added that Austin was in good academic standing at Notre Dame, while Prister reported he's "expected to remain enrolled" following Monday's new development.

In addition to Austin, the Irish will open the season without tight end Cole Kmet and wideout Michael Young. Kmet suffered a broken collarbone during practice Aug. 8. Nine days later, Young suffered the same injury while practicing with the team.