Back on March 25, Colorado's football Twitter account announced the program's students of the week, handed out to a pair of players every seven days.

Sophomore defensive tackle Na'im Rodman was the first player honored while joining him was sophomore wide receiver Vontae Shenault.

The last couple of times Shenault's name was on Twitter before March 25, it wasn't exactly for anything positive.

In late February, he was ticketed for driving with a revoked license as well as speeding, while about two months prior to that, head coach Karl Dorrell suspended him for the Valero Alamo Bowl, CU's first postseason appearance for the first time in five years, due to a violation of athletic department policy.

Prior to that, in the summer leading into the condensed 2020 season, Shenault was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Fort Collins.

Following the summer slip-up and after serving a suspension imposed by Dorrell for Colorado's season-opener against UCLA, Shenault returned to the Buffs and promptly led the team in receptions (17) while placing second in receiving yards (193) for the rest of the 2021 campaign.

While he's undoubtedly shown what he can do on the football field, matching that performance with his attitude and actions off the gridiron has been something of a struggle for the younger brother of now-Jacksonville Jaguar Laviska Shenault.

For Dorrell, seeing Shenault take his academics seriously is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.

Dorrell didn't fully exonerate Shenault's past missteps, but gave credit where credit is due in recognizing Shenault's efforts to get back in his head coach's good graces.

“I would say it’s been an ongoing process," Dorrell said. "But he’s getting so much better. We wanted to give him some kudos for the work that he’s doing academically. He’s growing up. I’m going to say that he’s growing up. Vontae’s a passionate kid and he’s doing a lot of really positive things right now."

Shenault seems to be keeping his head down and working hard on the practice field as well as the classroom.

The way Dorrell sees it, if Shenault can continue to do what he's doing here and now, he's got the chance to become a valuable asset within CU's offense.

"He’s doing great in school — is having the best semester he’s had since he’s been here, in school — so that’s a big positive," Dorrell said. "He’s done a great job this offseason (of) training. He looks great and he’s practicing great, so there’s a lot of positive vibes that he’s showing right now."

"We’re hoping that’s a consistency that he’s going to maintain for the rest of his career. If he does, he’s got the chance to be special.”

With K.D. Nixon having joined USC as a graduate transfer, the oldest players in Colorado's wide receivers room are juniors Daniel Arias, Maurice Bell and Jaylon Jackson, all guys who have certainly been around the block in their time at CU.

That being said, Nixon was the de facto leaders of the room as well as the Buffs' lone senior in 2020.

Now that he's gone, others will look to step up, assume more of a vocal presence at practice and prove themselves as leaders.

As well as in the classroom, Shenault has caught Dorrell's eye in how he's conducted himself at practice.

“We just talked about Vontae — I would say he’s one of those guys that’s stepped up and is trying to be a leader," Dorrell said. "He’s trying to do a lot of things right and like we discussed, he’s consistently done some really positive things in a lot of different areas in his life right now. I think he’s making some really good steps of improvement and showing some leadership qualities.”

Shenault's not out of the dog house yet, suffice to say, but as of late he has shown a real desire to do so.