Born in Brigham City, Devin Durrant spent part of his childhood in Kentucky before his family moved back to Provo, where he became a highly productive basketball player in high school and college on his way to the NBA.
Devin led Provo to a 26-0 record and the Class 3A state championship, making 17 of 25 shots from the field and scoring 38 of his team’s 52 points in the title game in Ogden. He was named a McDonald’s All-American and played in all-star games around the country, including the Derby Festival Basketball Classic in his former hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, where he won a one-on-one competition and was named the game’s MVP the same day.
In his first two years at BYU, prior to serving a church mission, Devin was named the Western Athletic Conference freshman of the year and then as a sophomore ranked ranked second to Danny Ainge on the team’s scoring list.
When he returned from Spain to BYU as a junior in 1982, Devin rediscovered his game with remarkable consistency. He averaged 22.8 points that season, always scoring between 16 and 31 points. He was named the WAC player of the year and received AP All-American honorable mention. The following summer, he played for the U.S. team in the World University Games, with teammates such as Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Johnny Dawkins and Ed Pinckney.
As a BYU senior, Devin enjoyed a stretch of scoring 36, 35, 34, 38, 33 and 36 points, with two of those games coming against Kentucky and UCLA. Completing his career as a four-year starter, Devin made such an impression on campus that coach Ladell Andersen told Sports Illustrated, “Our best player is also our best kid.”
In the same story, NBA scout Marty Blake labeled Devin “probably the smartest guy without the ball to come along in 10 years.”
Even with the recent emergence of Jimmer Fredette and Tyler Haws (and the adoption of the 3-point line in college basketball), Devin remains No. 5 on BYU’s career scoring list with 2,285 points. He averaged 19.5 points on 54.5-percent shooting in 117 games and scored 27.9 points as a senior. Devin was named to several All-America teams with the likes of Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing and finished seventh in voting for the John Wooden Award. He was inducted into BYU’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.
Devin was the No. 25 overall pick in the famously well-stocked NBA draft of 1984, following John Stockton and other eventual Hall of Fame selections. He played a full season with the Indiana Pacers, starting eight games, and spent part of the following season with the Phoenix Suns before continuing his professional career in Spain and France.
Devin earned a degree from BYU and an MBA from the University of Utah. He conducted a basketball camp in Utah for nine years and helped coach the Timpanogos High School girls team for three years.
Beginning in high school, when he received a community service award from Provo City, Devin has been recognized many times for his charitable and service efforts. Devin and his wife, Julie, are parents of six children and live in Provo. He will celebrate his 56th birthday Thursday.