A veteran wide receiver has decided to move on from the Nebraska football team.
Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda announced on Friday that he will be entering the transfer portal and finding a new school for the 2025 season. While the transfer portal has been closed for most players since late December, graduate transfers like Garcia-Castaneda can enter the transfer portal at any time.
“I gave my all to the program and I’m extremely proud to have been a Husker,†Garcia-Castaneda wrote on social media.
Garcia-Castaneda’s three-year Husker career, in which he played 18 games, was marked by ups and downs. Slated to be a key impact transfer and starter at wide receiver in 2022, Garcia-Castaneda’s best game as a Husker was his first, a 120-yard performance against Northwestern in Ireland.
Garcia-Castaneda made just one reception in the three games that followed and opted to end his season there, taking a redshirt year and entering the transfer portal.
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After Matt Rhule took over as head coach, Garcia-Castaneda rejoined the team in the spring and was again poised for a key role — but an ACL injury suffered during NU’s 2023 season opener at Minnesota ended his season after one game.
The senior wide receiver was finally healthy in 2024 as he appeared in all 13 of Nebraska’s games.
Garcia-Castaneda was NU’s primary punt returner with an average of 5.5 yards per return but played snaps at wide receiver in just five games. He caught one pass this fall while operating in a backup role and did see playing time in Nebraska’s bowl game win over Boston College.
The Huskers already planned to be without Garcia-Castaneda, a graduating senior in 2025, having added several transfer additions to their wide receiver room.
Garcia-Castaneda became eligible for a seventh season of college football through a recent NCAA waiver granting an additional season to former junior college athletes. Garcia-Castaneda began his career at Saddleback College in 2019 and spent two seasons at New Mexico State prior to playing for Nebraska.
Given that Garcia-Castaneda’s 2020 season at New Mexico State does not count against eligibility requirements, nor his 2022 redshirt season, the NCAA only counted three FBS seasons — 2021, 2023 and 2024 — against Garcia-Castaneda’s four-year limit.
DeShon Singleton also made use of the waiver to gain an additional season of eligibility, with the veteran defensive back set to return to Nebraska in 2025.
