Norfolk State head football coach Latrell Scott
NORFOLK, Va. (NSU Communications) – The NCAA added year a new mid-year signing day for football recruits for 2017-18. Norfolk State head football coach Latrell Scott and the Spartans took advantage of the early start to their signing class by adding five new recruits Wednesday, three of whom will enroll at the University in January for the spring semester.
“We’re very fortunate to be able to add five high-caliber student-athletes in our first early signing period,” Scott said. “Our coaching staff deserves a tremendous amount of credit for identifying talented players early in the process who wanted to be at NSU and were willing to commit to us early.”
The Spartans received national letters of intent Wednesday from three players who will transfer to NSU mid-year: junior college running back Cameryn Brent (Atlanta, Ga./Holmes Community College), junior college linebacker Levi Shockley (Salem, N.J./Monroe College) and prep school quarterback D’Andre Thomas (Washington, D.C./Fork Union Military Academy). Also signing Wednesday were two standout prep seniors who will join the program next summer after graduating high school: linebacker Allen Boykins (Portsmouth, Va./Norcom HS) and defensive back Brandon Savage (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill Academy).
Norcom’s Allen Boykins, a NSU signee
Boykins was a first-team all-district and all-region performer as a senior at Norcom, the same school that produced two-time All-MEAC linebacker and graduating senior Kyle Archie. Boykins was in on 96 tackles, 21 for a loss last season. He also notched six sacks, six fumble recoveries and four pass deflections on defense and scored twice on offense (once rushing, once receiving).
“Allen played multiple positions in high school and is very athletic. He’s also a two-sport athlete,” Scott said. “We feel he will grow into a strong inside linebacker in our defense.”
This group of five is just the beginning of NSU’s 2018 recruiting class, which figures to focus more on quality than quantity. The Spartans lost just 14 seniors from last year’s team.
Added Scott: “Over the next few week weeks, we’ll continue to identify players who fit our needs and look forward to more additions on the next signing day in February.”
