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Charles Henderson senior Jywon Boyd committed to Troy University during his senior football season and ultimately decided to stick with the Trojans during the early signing period when he signed his college letter-of-intent on Dec. 20.

Boyd said that he was conflicted after former Troy coach Jon Sumrall departed for Tulane, but receivers Coach Gary Banks helped keep Boyd a future Trojan.

“I told Coach Banks I would stick with him through thick and thin,” Boyd emphasized. “If he stayed, I stay. That was the main thing for me. I talked to a lot of the other recruits and we all decided to stick together and get us back in the Sun Belt Championship together.”

After Sumrall left Troy, Boyd said a number of other schools began to pursue him even harder.

“It was pretty hard because I had a lot of schools pursuing me and trying to get me to sign with them,” he said. “They were really going hard with signing day coming up and I had to consider my options and like I said earlier, I told Coach Banks if he stayed I would stay.”

New Troy Coach Gerard Parker also left a solid impression on Boyd and gained his trust.

“I’ve talked with him a couple of times now and I really like him so far,” Boyd said of Parker. “He told me everything would be straight and not to worry about what’s happened and to just trust him. So, I’m trusting in him and I’m fully behind him and hopefully he will lead us back to where we need to be.”

Along with Boyd, Enterprise native Keion Dunlap and Montgomery native Caleb McCreary signed with Troy during that early signing period. Troy also added Andalusia linebacker Kam Weaver on Feb. 7, as well. Parker said making sure to lock down the Wiregrass would be a priority for his staff.

“One of the most impressive things about being in Troy for the time I have is how prideful the people of Troy are,” Parker said. “The state and the support we have in this state is so great. When you’re able to tie into the people that love this place and they’re able to locate and remember, ‘That kid is from Charles Henderson’ or ‘That kid is from Enterprise’ helps us in so many ways.

“Also, when you recruit a kid that is passionate about where they come from it has another drive to that to want to please the people they grew up around. It’s important that we continue to go after the kids in our area and also in neighboring states.”