It is a busy, yet exciting and proud time for the Boykin family. Just last week, Michael Boykin signed his National Letter of Intent to play college basketball at Barton College. More recent basketball news breaking out of the Boykin family, is that Michael’s sister, Mikayla Boykin, has had her jersey retired with her AAU Basketball team, Team Carolina.
The jersey, Mikayla’s number 12, was retired at Hoop City U in Durham. The team is coached by Todd Pope and Rik Seymour, and has won two National Championships thanks to the leadership of Mikayla.
Mikayla became the youngest athlete to receive this honor, and was the only current high school player to be recognized with such a high honor. During the championship seasons, Boykin averaged over 20 points per game against some of the best talent in the nation.
For the presentation, the keynote speaker was Phil Ford. Ford is second on the all-time scoring list at the University of North Carolina, and is one of the few players to have his jersey number, 12, the same number as Mikayla’s, retired at UNC.
Despite Ford and Boykin sharing the same number, it won’t change her mind as to where she’ll play college ball. She is still committed to play basketball at Duke University after graduation next year.
“Having my jersey retired is really an awesome thing,” she said. “It is very humbling and I am very thankful for the opportunities I have had.”
Looking ahead, Boykin is planning on trying out for her age group’s USA girls basketball Olympic team this weekend in Colorado Springs. Boykin was recognized for her play on the AAU circuit, and received an invitation to go try out for the team.
“That was really exciting,” said Boykin, “to get that letter and to know that I can try out to possibly play basketball and represent my country. I feel like my game is in good shape right now, and I have worked hard rehabbing from my injuries. I am looking forward to all of the opportunities that lie ahead, and I am just going to go out there and play the game of basketball the way that I know to play it. It should be a great experience.”
Boykin’s father, Tim Boykin, stressed during his son, Michael’s signing the importance of grades for his children. Mikayla is currently boasting a 4.0 GPA at Clinton High School, and excelling on and off the court. The latter is what her parents are most proud of.
“Like I was saying with Michael, the grades and academics are most important to us,” said Tim Boykin. “We are very proud to see that they understand the importance of academics too. Mikayla is an extremely hard worker, and to see her hard work pay off, I am proud, ecstatic, happy, joyous, any positive adjective that you can think of, that’s the way that I feel for my children and their accomplishments,” smiled Boykin.
Mikayla looks to make her return to Clinton High basketball next season, as she has missed the previous two with an injury.