MORGANTOWN - Seeing as though he is the head coach and the one who sets the rules for West Virginia's football program, Dana Holgorsen is allowed to violate certain guidelines the Mountaineers have observed for a few months now.
You see, the offense used to have this dynamic wide receiver, a four-star recruit Alabama tried to pry away from the Mountaineers. The 2015 preseason started and the cautious but enthusiastic praise came from coaches and teammates on offense and defense - and understand, it's no fun for a defensive player or assistant to tip his helmet toward a freshman on offense.
But this player was worth that exception, and if you didn't believe it before the season started, the opening game against Georgia Southern probably began to change your mind: three catches, 121 yards, one touchdown and no answer from a Football Bowl Subdivision defense.
After his first month and then his first Big 12 game, he had 18 catches for 264 yards, three touchdowns and a lot of respect from more of those FBS defenses. But just as quickly, he went away, catching only seven more passes for 131 yards and two scores. He had three games with no catches and three with one.
"Losing focus, not doing things the right way all the time," Holgorsen said. "Having success early does that to a kid sometimes."
He bottomed out before the Cactus Bowl and wasn't eligible to play the final game of his first season. Holgorsen suspended him for all of spring football so he could prioritize his academics and his social life. When he was out of sight, he was also out of mind, his status underscored by an unwillingness of others to say his name, his absence overshadowed by what his teammates were doing in his stead.
And, with his talent being where and what it is, that was a shame.
"He's not just a guy," Holgorsen said. "But he's not one of the four everybody's talking about right now, which is on purpose."
The suspension was lifted when the Mountaineers went into their offseason program, unpublicized and only reported when someone bothered to ask, and Holgorsen is just now bending his own rule and starting to talk again about Jovon Durante.
"He's had a good summer, done well academically, done well socially," Holgorsen said. "He's motivated. It was probably good to take it from him for a while and tell him it ain't all about football. But he's in a good place right now."
The Mountaineers have what they believe are four very good receivers, senior Daikiel Shorts, juniors Shelton Gibson and Ka'Raun White and sophomore Gary Jennings falling in some order. Durante, for now, isn't allowed in that conversation, falling into a group with senior Devonte Mathis, sophomore Ricky Rogers and freshmen Marcus Simms and Steven Smothers, each a good prospect who hasn't done much if anything in a game.
"After regrouping for a while, hopefully he can maintain focus for the entire season, but he knows right now he's not starting," Holgorsen said. "He knows he's been beaten out by other people. But that's what's August is for, too."
If that's temporary or not is up to Durante, and he can begin to change his coach's mind when preseason practice begins Aug. 2. For now, Durante is behind White as the second-team receiver at one outside receiver, and Holgorsen cautioned against expecting change there.
After all, White was available and productive during the spring. Durante was not. White took advantage of the opportunity. Durante forfeited it. And though this might be sacrilege, White peaked during the bowl game practices and then the actual game and has, if nothing else, positioned himself to follow a path parallel to the one his brother Kevin traveled to the NFL.
"Don't sleep on Ka'Raun," Holgorsen said. "He had a really good spring, and right now Ka'Raun is in front of Jovon. I can move those guys around a little bit if I have to, but Ka'Raun was our most solid receiver in the spring.
"He's about the same measurables as Kevin. When you take a look at how they play, you think Kevin is two inches taller and 20 pounds heavier. He's really not. Ka'Raun's really skilled."
The Mountaineers aren't going to win on the strength of one receiver, and White isn't as accomplished as Gibson, who ranks second among returning Big 12 players in receiving yards and touchdowns in 2015. Kevin White had Mario Alford outside and Jordan Thompson and Shorts inside, so Gibson will need Ka'Raun White and Jennings and Shorts and others, including Durante.
Durante is doing his part now, still far from actual practice, by making sure he and others are ready for what's headed their way.
"He was good early last year, but he faded," Holgorsen said. "He's up to about 180, 185 pounds. He played at 155 last year. That's what Smothers and Simms are right now. They're all kind of the same guy, but they don't understand what you've got to do to your bodies every day. I've had Jovon talk to those kids a lot, so hopefully that helps."
Contact Mike Casazza at 304-319-1142 or mikec@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikecasazza and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/wvu/.