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Class of 2017 #1 PG and Duke Commit Looks to Come Back After Serious Injury

By Chris Brown

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Future Duke Blue Devil Mikayla Boykin is one of the top recruits in the nation for the class of 2017, ranked by ESPNW as the #1 point guard prospect and #4 overall player in her recruiting class. Unfortunately, the 5-9 guard tore both her ACL and MCL during an AAU game, which may cause her to miss out on part of this season. Recently the future Blue Devil spoke with USA Today about her recovery and wanting to come back more dominant than she was before.

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Boykin, a native of Clinton, NC, committed to join the Blue Devils and play for Coach Joanne P. McCallie very early in her high school career as a freshman in April 2014. In her first year of high school, she was one of the top scorers and playmakers in the country leading her team with 26 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists per game.

The Duke commit admitted that at first she was depressed about her injuries and went through a lot mentally, but is now dedicated to coming back even better than she was before. She was hoping to be back in time for the USA Basketball FIBA Americas U16 Team but suffered some further setbacks in her knee recovery and will have to wait a bit longer to return to the basketball court. Boykin has managed to remain positive through it all and can’t wait to return saying:

"“Man, when I come back it’ll be around nine months that I haven’t had basketball. It’s gonna be on!…My mindset is to be even more dominant now. I feel like I want it even more now that I see how easily it can be taken away. I went through a lot mentally, but this is what I love to do. I’m not worried about how I’ll play when I come back; I know I’ll be better. When I’m on the court it’s my court. It’s my game. Nothing else matters.”"

Even though she’s still too young to sign an official letter of intent for Duke entering the 10th grade and other schools are still recruiting her, but Boykin says that she’s made up her mind to play for the Blue Devils. She chose Duke because “it’s close to home. I don’t like being far away from my parents. And they have the best education program and their basketball program is awesome too. It was like the best fit for me.” More info on Mikayla Boykin and her recovery can be seen in the 2 videos below with the junior already representing Duke.

Duke Women’s Basketball will be adding the #1 recruiting class this season with 5 new freshmen. Duke will have a wealth of point guards in 2017 when Boykin joins the team, with incoming 5-star PG recruits Angela Salvadores and Kyra Lambert joining this season and Maryland transfer Lexie Brown eligible to play starting next year. We’ll keep you updated on 2017’s top point guard and Duke commit Mikayla Boykin as she continues to recover from her surgery and all other women’s basketball team news here on Ball Durham.

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