We are less than one month away from the 2015 NFL Draft and just over a month away from the 2015 CFL Draft. As we get closer and closer to those two events, there seems to be a name that gets hotter and hotter by the day. That name is Lemar Durant. A 6’2, 232lb. wide-receiver out of NCAA’s Division II Simon Fraser University. You may be thinking, “where?” Simon Fraser University (SFU) is located in Burnaby, British Columbia (Canada).

Durant is actually from Canada… Coquitlam, British Columbia to be exact. He started playing football at the age of 8 and while he was a standout on the Centennial High School football team, he was also a member of the schools basketball team where he averaged 35 points per game and once dropped 64pts in a single game. By the time his senior year was up, Durant, who was named Centennial’s Male Student-Athlete of the Year, was being looked at by both Division I football and basketball teams. He ultimately decided to accept an offer to attend the University of Nevada and play for the Wolf Pack football team. “Nevada’s offense appealed to me, at the time. When I went and met the coaching staff and players, it cinched the deal.” Durant said.

After redshirting his first year at Nevada, Durant thought that it would be best to go back to Canada and attend Simon Fraser. “SFU appealed to me because it was close to
home (10 minutes away), and it was now an NCAA school. Also my high school coach was coaching there at the time – and some old teammates were there, so there was an element of comfort and familiarity as well. It seemed like a great place to get back into the game.” And it proved to be just that because throughout Durant’s first year playing for SFU’s football team, he splashed onto the scene and was voted to the All-GNAC First-Team as he was able to record 91 receptions for over 1,300 yards and 17 touchdowns.

After that eye-opening freshman campaign, the next two seasons didn’t quite go as Durant expected. As a redshirt-sophomore, a foot injury forced him to miss a handful of games in the beginning of the year. Also as a redshirt-junior, an illness (mono) kept him out of 4 games early on in the season as well. If there was a silver-lining to any of that, it would be that Durant was able to come back for each of those two seasons to finish out the year. Although at times he wasn’t 100% healthy, the #1 priority for opposing teams was to stop Durant. Throughout his final 2 seasons at Simon Fraser University, Durant reeled in 84 catches, for 1,074 yards, and 11 touchdowns in the 2013-’14 seasons.

THE PROCESS

Durant still had one more year of eligibility remaining but he told me that “It didn’t take too much thought (to enter NFL/CFL drafts) because I always wanted to play pro football, I had been enrolled in school since 2010, and was done – I felt like I was ready, and it was time to make the next step in my football career. I was also getting interest from some NFL teams, so after talking with my team, coaches and family I decided to enter the 2015 NFL and CFL drafts.”

Earlier this month, Durant participated in the CFL Combine where he continued to impress scouts by running the fastest 40-yard dash out of all WRs with a 4.55. He also ran a 4.60 in the shuttle, 7.35 in the 3-cone drill, leaped 36 inches in the vertical, 9’11” in the broad jump, & benched 26 reps of 225lbs (most by a WR in the history of the CFL Combine, 2nd out of all WRs entering NFL Draft). Durant says that he “feels pretty good” about his performance at the combine. He also took part in the Denver NFL Regional Combine where he posted better numbers in the shuttle (4.41) and the broad jump (10’1″).

So what if Lemar Durant heard his name called during both the NFL Draft (April 30th-May 2nd) and the CFL Draft (May 12th)? He says “I’ll have to figure that out when the time comes. Different teams and offers would be made so it’s hard to say right now what would happen. I want to be an impact player, so depending on the situation, it could go either way.” There’s a possibility that Durant may hear his name called at some point in the later rounds of the NFL Draft. Personally, I believe he does indeed have the skill set to play at the highest level of football there is. With that said, there’s a chance that he may be the #1 overall pick in the CFL Draft. “I want to play at the highest level possible, so if it’s the NFL for me, then that’s what it will be. It’s great that there is the NFL and the CFL because I’m a huge fan of both. I’m also a dual citizen USA/CAN – with family in both places, so I’d be happy either way.” 

With both drafts right around the corner, Durant has been training with his personal trainer who also happens to be his former high school coach, Kevin Phillips who runs a training facility called Elevation Fitness in BC. He also mentioned that while he was at Simon Fraser, he was training with his strength and conditioning coach, Derek Hansen (who also specializes in speed). 

As he waits to see what his future holds, Durant says that he’s going to keep doing what he’s been doing, “which is training hard, and making sure that whatever team I end up on gets the best player possible — who’s ready to prove that I can make an impact from Day 1.  That’s my goal. I’m ready to compete.”

Whether Durant’s future is in the NFL or the CFL, I know I’ll certainly be watching out for him. He has all the traits that screams “superstar.” And as I like to say, tape doesn’t lie. Below is Lemar Durant’s highlight film from his 3 years playing for the Simon Fraser Clan. 

Christian Shanafelt

Twitter: @ChrisShanafelt