Following an injury-plagued junior season, Butler (Matthews, N.C.) star receiver Jarrett Boykin needed a big-time senior season to draw in the major Division 1A offers. The 6-2, 190-pound receiver caught five receptions for 148 yards and a score in the 2007 season opener and has never looked back, continuing his quality play and ending up with 54 receptions for 1,082 yards during the regular season. And now, Boykin has accepted a scholarship at Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech was the first major program to offer, jumpstarting his recruitment.

“We talked earlier when Tech first offered,” Butler head coach Mike Newsome began. “He was looking for one of those big schools to offer him. Once Virginia Tech offered, I felt a lot of people would follow suit. That is what happened. I told him I don’t think he should play around too much, so I asked him if there were any other schools he would be very interested in if they were to offer. He mentioned that his cousin was an All-American at Tennessee. He mentioned them and he said he had always like UNC. The Tennessee coaches were real honest. I told them Virginia Tech had offered, but Coach Brooks said they already had commitments from the guys they wanted to recruit. UNC was interested but never came back with an offer. He did get offers from Illinois and South Carolina. N.C. State was close to offering, I think. I felt like North Carolina would eventually come through and offer, but he felt real comfortable with Virginia Tech. I’m sure the big win over Florida State helped, too.”

Boykin’s performances early on in the season had a major influence with the Tech coaching staff’s decision to extend an offer.

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