Just four practices in to its preseason football camp, Western Kentucky University has already lost a player for the 2009 season.

Freshman quarterback Courtney Dalcourt, thought to be a competitor for the starting job, will miss the year after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during non-contact drills at Wednesday's practice.

WKU associate athletic director/communication Todd Stewart confirmed the diagnosis after Thursday's practice. He said Dalcourt's currently wearing a brace on his right leg and will have surgery to repair the ligament after swelling in the knee subsides.

Dalcourt came to WKU with plenty of fanfare, having been an all-state first team selection at quarterback by the Associated Press and The Courier-Journal as a senior at Franklin-Simpson High School. He racked up nearly 3,100 total yards and accounted for 36 touchdowns in his last year with the Wildcats. He chose the Hilltoppers over scholarship offers from Central Michigan, Kentucky and Georgia Tech.

He'll use a redshirt in 2009 and have four years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2010.

His injury means the job for starting quarterback at WKU will be a contest between senior Brandon Smith, redshirt freshman Marcus Vasquez and redshirt freshman Kawaun Jakes.