JC Smith adds a familiar face at QB with Kelvin Durham

FORT VALLEY STATE ATHLETICS

Johnson C. Smith signed former Fort Valley State quarterback Kelvin Durham, who passed for a career-high 23 touchdowns and 2,096 yards as a junior in 2024. In three seasons with the Wildcats, Durham passed for 5,922 yards and 56 touchdowns.

One of the SIAC’s top quarterbacks has signed with Johnson C. Smith.

The Golden Bulls landed former Fort Valley State standout Kelvin Durham, a three-year starter coming off a career season with the Wildcats. Durham (6-3, 210) is reuniting with JCSU coach Maurice Flowers, who recruited him to Fort Valley State in 2020 from South Dade High in Homestead, Florida.

Durham has one year of eligibility.

“It’s just great to get a commitment from just someone who just believes in what you’re doing and the direction that you’re heading,” said Flowers, who coached JCSU to an 8-2 record in 2024 – their best season since 1975. “And with this young man, it’s big because I’ve not recruited him once – I’ve recruited him twice now.”

With Durham’s addition, JCSU has three quarterbacks who’ve started for Flowers. The others are Darius Ocean, who went 7-2 last year after transferring from Valdosta State, and Jamere Cherry, who redshirted in 2024 but went 2-1 as a freshman in 2023. Ocean passed for a school record 2,301 yards and 16 touchdowns.

“We’ve got a competitive quarterback room, that’s what our program is built on,” Flowers said. “You’ve got Darius Ocean, who is first team All-CIAA but when you’ve got a chance to get someone like Kelvin Durham, who’s as experienced as he is and who’s a winner like that, you just really can’t pass that opportunity up.”

In 29 games over three seasons, Durham passed for 5,922 yards and accounted for 62 touchdowns (56 passing). He tallied career passing highs in yards (2,096) and touchdowns (23) in 2024.
Durham earned SIAC freshman of the year and first team all-conference in 2022.

“The things that attracted us to him when he was a high school player was his dual threat ability and his size,” Flowers said. “At that time, he was like 6-2, 180 pounds. Well, now he’s 6-[3], 210 pounds and still has great athleticism – can run, can throw, and he’s very experienced.”

In Durham’s three seasons at Fort Valley State, the Wildcats went 22-11 with a pair of eight-win seasons. As a sophomore, he quarterbacked FVSU to a win against Flowers and the Golden Bulls in the Florida Beach Bowl where he earned the MVP trophy by connecting on 10-of-14 passes for 167 yards and a pair of scores.

“What we get is a winner,” Flowers said. “We get an experienced quarterback, and we get a guy that’s really a topflight competitor and then we also get someone who’s familiar with Johnson C. Smith, because his quarterback trainer in Miami, Keahn Wallace … was [CIAA] Rookie of the Year in [2011] so when I say there’s familiarity and there’s trust, that’s the big thing. It’s just a great fit all the way around.”

Wallace, a Golden Bulls quarterback who led them to back-to-back winning seasons in 2011-12 and a Pioneer Bowl win. Flowers was JCSU’s quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator during that stretch.

• Linebacker Benari Black earned a pair of All-America accolades.

Black, a West Charlotte High graduate, was named American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches’ All-America and Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-America. He is the third Golden Bull to make AFCA All-America, joining linebacker Ronald Capers (1988) and kick returner De’Audra Dix (2007).

Black, who led the CIAA in tackles in 2024, was named all-conference and defensive player of the year. He also earned an invitation to February’s HBCU Legacy Bowl, a showcase of senior Black college players, along with fellow JCSU linebacker Jack Smith.

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