Recruiting Radar: Spencer Boyd Q&A

Posted Jul 13, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Jul 13, 2010 at 03:03 PM

Former Cape Coral standout Spencer Boyd is the latest player to transfer to USF. Boyd spent the spring and Summer A session at Notre Dame as an early enrollee.

However, South Bend wasn’t for Boyd, who was granted his release by Irish coach Brian Kelly so he could transfer closer to home from family reasons. Boyd’s son, Jayden, turns 3 on July 24 and he didn’t want to be away from him for extended periods.

Boyd, listed at 5-10, 175 pounds, said there are other family concerns as well, and that he is thankful for a restart of his college career at USF. Recruiting as a defensive back coming out of high school, Boyd will get a look at receiver at USF. He played offense regularly in high school.

He is scheduled to leave South Bend with his parents later this week—Boyd expects to make his debut for the Bulls in South Bend on Sept. 3, 2011, when USF opens at Notre Dame—to move back to Florida and prepare for the start of classes at USF. Once he enrolls, Boyd must sit out a season, but he will have four years of eligibility remaining.

Here is our Q&A with Boyd:

Q: What sold you on USF after you decided to leave Notre Dame?

A: After I decided to transfer, that was the only school that I was going to pursue. That was my No. 1 choice. The reason I’m transferring is based on family issues, and that was as close to home as I could get.

Q: Where are you currently in the admissions process?

A: I’ll be there for the fall semester. Right now, I just filled out an application the other day with admissions online. We’re just going step by step.

Q: Did you have any previous connection to USF?

A: They were one of the schools I was considering back when I was getting recruited in high school.

Q: How much did your son play in your decision to leave Notre Dame?

A: He was up here for most of the spring semester living with my parents. This past month, being up here away from him has been hard. So I can only imagine what it would be like to be away from him for six months. It’s not only him, there are other family issues. I started getting worried about different things that were happening in my family.

Q: What other schools did you consider?

A: When I got my release, I got a hold of USF and just went from there. USF was where I wanted to be because it was so close to home. I sent my release out to all the Florida schools, but USF is the school I wanted to be at.

Q: For USF fans that have never seen you play, what you can you tell them?

A: I find ways to make plays on the defensive side. I’m not afraid to hit. I’ll be aggressive. Size and stuff don’t matter to me. My freshman year in high school, I played receiver. In my sophomore year, they moved me to running back. So I can play around the field.

For more perspective on Boyd’s journey, here is a story by the Fort Myers News-Press e-mailed to me courtesy of David Dorsey:

Former Cape Coral stars get a jumpstart on playing at next level

By DAN DELUCA
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Spencer Boyd looks outside his dorm room window in South Bend, Ind., and doesn’t like what he sees.

“It’s snowing right now; I can’t stand it,” said Boyd, raised in the warmth of Southwest Florida sunshine. “I try to stay inside as much as possible. When I have to go out, I have on three pairs of sweats, long johns, five shirts, two jackets. Then you’re walking and the wind’s blowing in your face; that’s the worst part. It’s just so cold, man.”

Boyd is braving the Indiana winter in an effort to fast track his football career at Notre Dame. The former Cape Coral standout is part of the growing trend of athletes enrolling early in college.

According to rivals.com, 232 football players were early enrollees in 2009, a 121 percent increase from 2008. This year, there are three from Lee County - Boyd, former Cape Coral teammate Jaylen Watkins (Florida) and Baker’s Jonathan Garcia (Wake Forest).

The athletes and their college teams benefit from this arrangement. The recruits learn the ins and outs of collegiate life in the low stress atmosphere of the spring semester, without the pressures of daily practices and weekly games that consume the fall. Also, from a football standpoint, early enrollees are much more likely to contribute as freshman because they have six months of college-level workouts along with spring football experience on their resumes before “true” freshmen set foot on campus in August.

Still, those long-range benefits seem pretty far down the road when you’re struggling to read a campus map.

“At first I didn’t think I made the right decision,” said Watkins. “There was so much to get used to, just finding your way around campus, the classes, waking up at 6 a.m. for workouts. But now that I’m starting to get adjusted, I’m glad I came early.

“To learn all this in the fall would have been tough.”

At least Watkins has the advantage of being just a four-hour car ride from home.

“Anytime I start to feel bad, I think of the kids from California and other faraway places,” said Watkins, one of 11 early enrollees in Gainesville. “They can’t go home.”

Watkins will use his geographical advantage on Wednesday and

drive to Cape Coral to participate in the school’s Signing Day ceremonies.

“I wasn’t going to, but then I started thinking about all the pictures I’ve seen in the paper of kids signing with their hats on; that’s always something that I dreamed about,” he said. “I wanted to celebrate with my mom and my family members and friends. I asked my coaches and they were OK with it.”

Boyd, meanwhile will sign his letter-of-intent in an office at Notre Dame, then head to one of the seven classes he’s taking this semester.

“That’s been the biggest adjustment - all the classes and all the work,” said Boyd, one of five early enrollees for the Fighting Irish. “Study hall, tutors, mentors, I utilize them a lot, otherwise I don’t think I’d be able to keep up.”

In addition to his daunting courseload, Boyd is also getting a crash course in training like a highly tuned collegiate athlete.

“I’ve put on six pounds of muscle in the first two weeks,” he said. “I’ve never done a lot of this stuff, so it’s tough. It’s the little things like the way you grip the bar when you’re lifting. I guess doing it a certain way you get more out of it. I just listen to (the coaches). They know what they’re talking about.”

Boyd said he and Watkins call or text message each other nearly every day to ask how things are going and share experiences.

“We’re going to meet up back home during spring break,” Boyd said. “I can’t wait to be warm again.”