Tevaun’s travels

IOWA CITY — Tevaun Smith is from Canada. Not the flannel, piney, Rocky Mountains and prairies Canada, but Toronto, a cosmopolitan city rich and vibrant in culture.

He doesn't say 'aboot,' the international sign of northerner. Ask anyone from north of Eau Claire, Wis., to say 'about,' and you can just about gauge how far north they live.

'About,' the Iowa junior wide receiver said pointedly. 'I don't say that. I'm not that

Canadian.'

Smith, a junior who caught three passes for 17 yards in the Hawkeyes' victory over Northern Iowa last week, including a one-handed touchdown catch that made SportCenter's top 10 plays of the day, does miss Tim Hortons, the coffee and doughnut shop based in Canada.

He loves poutine, the Canadian dish of French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy.

He doesn't like hockey, but he does watch the Canadian Football League. He has friends who play in the CFL and his favorite team is, of course, the Toronto Argonauts.

'He's got the maple leaf tatted on himself,' senior wide receiver Kevonte Martin-Manley said.

Yes, Smith has a cluster of maple leafs — the symbol on the Canadian flag — tattooed on his right biceps. The leafs curl around and lead into a beautifully drawn picture of the Toronto skyline, punctuated by CN Tower, an 1,800-foot high needlelike structure.

We did mention he doesn't like hockey, right?

'He's Jamaican,' Iowa quarterback Jake Rudock said. 'That's probably why he doesn't like hockey. I don't think he likes the ice.'

There's that, too. Smith's mom and dad, Maureen Smith and Denzel Forbes, are from Jamaica. Smith said they speak with the distinct accent. He catches himself sliding into that when he's home.

'I eat a lot of Jamaican food when I'm home, it's always healthy,' said Smith, who earned the nickname 'Canadian Missile' during the 2010 Team USA vs. World All-American game.

Smith didn't come to Iowa City directly from Toronto. Canada exports hockey players to the rest of the world. Canadian football players are lightly scouted if at all. Smith is a case-in-point. When he was a prep player at Chaminade College High School in Toronto, college football recruiters from the states where a rare sight.

'The only school I remember coming over was Buffalo and that was really it. They're only an hour and a half away,' Smith said. 'The Canadian schools would come, but other than that, no major schools. It was pretty much us going to football camps.'

Smith went the camp route for exposure, but ultimately he found his way to Kent School (Conn.) for a year of postgraduate academics and exposure to colleges in the United States. Kent is a prestigious boarding school located in bucolic Connecticut that isn't known as a factory for high-level football recruits, longtime Kent School head coach Todd Marble said. And the woodsy, 1,200-acre campus is off the beaten path.

When asked how Iowa found Smith, head coach Kirk Ferentz, who played football and graduated from the University of Connecticut, said the Hawkeye caravan got kind of lost.

'We could have been in Germany for all I knew,' Ferentz said with a laugh. 'I had no idea where the heck we were. All of a sudden we popped out near Bristol after driving around places I had never been.'

In football, Kent, a solid day's drive from Toronto on the Connecticut-New York border, is allowed to take four postgraduate students who also have to meet admissions requirements.

'Tevaun had a great background, but wanted to get a little better educational background before he went to college,' said Marble, who was Smith's coach at Kent. 'At the same time, like a lot of our postgraduate prospects, he wanted to get a little more exposure playing football.'

Marble is quick to point out that Kent 'isn't in the business of Division I athletes.'

'Tevaun was an anomaly,' Marble said. 'Most of our kids are going to Ivy League schools, so to get a kid like that was a real bonus. Right from day 1, he fit in personality-wise, work ethic-wise, character-wise.'

Marble had a connection in Toronto and has brought in other Canadian players. When it comes to scouting Canada from the states, he believes more colleges need to pay attention.

'Football is a growing sport in Canada, unlike the United States,' Marble said. 'In particular regions, like Quebec, it's blossoming. American football is really growing rapidly in Canada. I think it's wise for American schools to pay attention to that.'

Smith led Kent to a New England championship game and a Founders League title. There was that one time when . . .

'Our last game of the year [in 2011], it was a night game, a tough game,' Marble said. 'We were undefeated and playing a tough opponent and down with just a few seconds left. We lost our backup quarterback and Tevaun was our emergency choice.

'He came in and threw a 60-yard pass literally right into the hands of a kid in the end zone to win the game as the clock ticked down. That just shows what a willing, capable athlete he is.'

Smith wanted to gain exposure and earn a college football scholarship with his move to Kent. Iowa, UConn, Temple and Syracuse came calling. The prep school route is the pattern, at least at Iowa.

The Hawkeyes have had three Canadian players in recent years. All three finished their prep football careers in the U.S. Former Iowa O-lineman Nolan McMillan went from Ottawa, Ont., to the Hun School in Princeton, N.J. Sophomore defensive tackle Faith Ekakitie was from Brampton, Ont., but finished school at Lake Forest (Ill.) Academy.

'Seems like they're coming to America, playing here a little bit and then getting a little bit more exposure that way,' Ferentz said.

Some of Smith's Toronto friends play big-time college football. One of his best friends plays at Penn State. Another is at UCLA.

So, why should college football coaches check out Canadian players, besides the poutine?

'I feel like there are guys out there who really want it,' Smith said, 'and since we don't get that exposure, it gives a lot of guys the drive to really want it. It's good to go out there and see what we have. There are guys out there, you just have to find them.'

They might have parents from Jamaica, they might be born in Toronto and they might've had a stop-off in Kent, Conn., but they are out there.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@sourcemedia.net