Boykin signs with ’Nova as second-chance receiver

Football recruiting can take many twists and turns, as Villanova coach Mark Ferrante knows all too well. A perfect example is Whitehall High wide receiver Dez Boykin, who was one of the three players the Wildcats signed Wednesday during the second stage of what has become a twotiered signing process.

Boykin, a first-team all-state receiver, was the first player in the Class of 2018 offered a scholarship by the Wildcats. That was in March of last year. Yet he wasn’t one of the 12 players Villanova signed during the three-day early signing period in December.

“He had a lot going on and then we received a verbal commitment from another young man at the same position so we were kind of full at the wide receiver,” Ferrante said. “Then that young man, who was our first verbal commitment, changed his mind. We thought Dez was going to sign with somebody else in December.”

Boykin didn’t sign and, as fate would have it, defensive line coach Ross Pennybacker, who’s recruiting area includes the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area, ran into Boykin last week while checking out prospects for the Class of 2019. One thing led to another and in less than a week, Boykin was a Wildcat, along with James Lawson, a defensive back from Bishop McDevitt in Harrisburg and Nick Torres, an offensive lineman from the Salisbury School in Connecticut.

“We’re super excited to get Dez Boykin because he not only was the first player we offered at his position, but in the entire class,” Ferrante said.

The 5-10, 190-pound Boykin caught passes for 1,021 yards and 12 TDs in 2017, 64 according to a story in the Morning-Call newspaper. For his career, he had 181 receptions for 3,017 yards. Boykin is the second player in District 11 history to go over 3,000 yards receiving in a career, behind only Central Catholic and Villanova grad Kevin Gulyas, who had 4,201 yards. He had 46 career TD receptions.

Gulyas went on to catch 88 passes for 1,520 yards and 18 touchdowns. In his last two years Gulyas caught 67 passes for 1,285 yards and 16 TDs.

The 6-1, 190-pound Lawson finished with 75 tackles and two interceptions to help the Crusaders go 10-3 and advance to the semifinal round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs. The 6-5, 290-pound Torres is the third offensive lineman to sign with Villanova. In all, Villanova signed 15 players for the Class of 2018, 12 in the early period (see accompanying list).