Up Close: Meet Roughriders receiver Dhel Duncan-Busby
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It wasn't until his senior year of high school that the Vancouver-born, Ontario-raised receiver made the switch from basketball to football.
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Now a second-year member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders after being a third-round pick by the CFL club in 2024, Duncan-Busby has been a mainstay in the Green and White's lineup this season as he's been the only Canadian receiver to start all eight games for the club so far this year.
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After making the switch to football while attending high school in Ohio, Duncan-Busby earned a football scholarship with the Bemidji State Beavers, where he had 27 touchdowns in 47 career games from 2019-23. And after making his CFL debut last year, Duncan-Busby hauled in his first CFL touchdown earlier this season on June 28 against the B.C. Lions when he caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Maier.
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This week, as the Roughriders get set to host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday in Week 11 of the season, we caught up with Duncan-Busby to talk about his journey to the CFL:
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Position: Receiver
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Number: 18
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Age: 25
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Height and weight: 6-foot-1, 207 pounds
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Where is home for you?
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'I grew up in Toronto, like Etobicoke-Brampton area. I kind of went back and forth between that.
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'I would probably consider home as Minnesota. That's where I went to college. That's where my girlfriend's at. So that's usually where I go in the off-season.'
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'My senior year of high school … 2016 would have been my first year of playing football.
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'It was new. It was just fun and new. It's really all it was.
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'It worked out in my favour. I mean you get the itch every now and then to play basketball, but I'm definitely glad where I'm at.'
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'My mom and my dad were both coaches, so I was on a basketball court when I was like two months old.
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'I ran track; 400-(metre), 200-(metre) — those are my two favourite.'
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Favourite football memory?
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'I would have to say probably the first touchdown here would probably be one of them. I won a couple of conference championships in college, so those are pretty special as well.'
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'I usually wake up in the morning super early. Take a nice, long shower. Depending on what time the game is, I usually get in here about three hours before. Go into the hot tub if we're home. Stretch out. Get a whole bunch of treatment done, and then I'm usually ready to rock. (Equipment) on at least an hour and a half before just so I can get a feel for the pads.'
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