Photo by Russell Conroy

Frank Burlison at the PT broke the story Wednesday evening that incoming Poly senior Shelton Boykin has decided to commit to Long Beach State after he graduates—he’ll sign his letter of intent in November to make things official.

This is great news for local sports fans—Boykin is a dynamic, around-the-rim player with a nose for rebounds and an even better sense of the big play. If you don’t believe me, check out the picture posted in this story–he scored the bucket.  In other words, with good shooting ability and in-paint tenacity, he’s exactly what the ‘Niners have been looking for.  Next year’s team will now feature two Long Beach kids, as the ‘Rabbit Boykin will join Jordan Panther Larry Anderson in the Pyramid.

Working to coach Monson’s advantage in recruiting Boykin, against a slew of competition (including some Pac-10 interest), was the fact that Boykin is a kid who wanted to stay local.  Playing for Long Beach means he’ll get to watch his sister Sheila’s senior year at Poly, as well as remain around the rest of his family.  Stay tuned to LBPostSports—we’ll talk to Shel in the next few days, and of course we’re your only local source for Poly video highlights during basketball season.