Durante focused for year two

Sometimes things have to be taken from you to realize what you’ve lost.

It’s a practice that all of us go through at least one in our life. For sophomore wide receiver Jovon Durante that occurred this spring when he was suspended from the team.

“I felt like he needed time to reassess what his priorities are. Football is very important to him, always has been but you can’t get by on just that,” head coach Dana Holgorsen said.

Durante did not participate in the Cactus Bowl win after not meeting academic requirements. He served as the team’s fourth leading wide receiver throughout the season with 24 catches for 378 yards and five touchdowns and arrived quickly as he started hot out of the gates as a starting receiver.

But the Miami native faded down the stretch as he dealt with issues with the physical nature of college football playing at only 155-pounds as a true freshman as well as focusing on and off the field. Over the final seven games of the season he only recorded eight catches.

“Having success early does that to kids sometimes. After regrouping for a while hopefully he can maintain his focus for an entire season,” Holgorsen said.

Durante is now back with the football team and is coming off a strong spring academically and socially, while he has put in the work during the summer to put himself into a good position to battle for playing time this fall. Physically Durante is tipping the scales at around 180-pounds now and is more prepared to handle the physical toll that a season in the Big 12 Conference will take on a body.

But even with the productive time away from the game, nothing will be given to the sophomore. He enters a situation where he is now not a starter and is behind several others as fall camp is on the horizon. The challenge will be to regain his form.

“He’s not one of the four everybody is talking about right now which was on purpose,” Holgorsen said.

It’s something that Durante understands as well according to his head coach and is looking forward to the opportunity to compete for an even bigger role when fall camp begins Aug. 1.

“He knows right now he isn’t starting; he’s been beat out by other people,” he said.

That’s what fall camps are for.