It is a tough day in Thibodaux as they remember Kyren Lacy, a two-sport star in high school who went on to become an All-SEC performer at LSU. Authorities in the Houston area say Lacy took his own life on Saturday night during a police chase. Harris County Sheriff deputies say they found Lacy dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“It’s a tragedy,” said Chris Dugas, Lacy’s high school football coach at Thibodaux. “Seeing him in high school, just remember him as the happy-go-lucky joking kid that he was always in the locker room that’s the Kyren I saw that’s the Kyren I knew.”
Dugas was the head coach at Thibodaux High when Lacy played football and basketball at the Lafourche Parish school. Dugas says Lacy helped Thibodaux win a state championship in boys’ basketball in 2019 and was a late bloomer as a football star.
“In high school, he was a happy kid, always smiling in the locker room, always joking around with his teammates, a leader on the team,” Lacy said.
Lacy concentrated on basketball in his first couple of years at Thibodaux, but Dugas helped convince him that he could be a standout wide receiver, with his six-foot-two size and his speed and ability to catch passes. He had a sensational senior season with 54 catches for 864 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Dugas says it’s very sad to see Lacy now dead at the age of 24.
“It’s just a gut punch, you spent a lot of time with a kid that you coach and they become a part of your family,” Dugas said.
Lacy spent his first two years of college football at U-L Lafayette. He led the Cajuns in receiving his freshman season and helped them win a Sun Belt title in 2021. He transferred to LSU after the 2021 campaign and in his senior season, he caught 58 passes for 866 yards and an SEC-high nine touchdown passes.
He was preparing for the NFL draft, but he was also facing a negligent homicide charge for a fatal wreck that State Police say he caused in December in Lafourche Parish on Highway 20.
Lacy has denied his actions that day led to the death of 78-year-old Herman Hall.
Here is the interview with Coach Chris Dugas, who is now the offensive coordinator at Central Lafourche.
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