Boyer Nets Academic
All-State Accolades
Throughout his career as a student-athlete at Newkirk High
School and even before, Tyler Boyer learned the value of diligence
on the court and off. The quality paid off again recently when
Boyer received his latest honor.
 Two months after graduating from NHS,
Boyer was notified by Tiger Head Basketball Coach Brad Larimer
of his selection as a member of Oklahoma Basketball Coaches'
Association (OBCA) Academic All-State team. A combination of
excellence in athletics and academics produced the rare distinction
for the Tiger athlete.
"It's a big honor," Boyer described. "It means
a lot to me. ... It's kind of weird, though. I didn't think I
was going to get it, especially since I just found out. It's
just kind of a cool surprise."
The Academic All-State accolades are a product of hard work.
In the classroom, Boyer maintained a perfect 4.0 grade-point
average at NHS, garnered the Salutatorian position in his graduating
class of 65, and he scored a 29 on the ACT college entrance test.
He also competed for the Tigers as a two-sport athlete and honed
his basketball skills through long hours in the gym developing
a shooting stroke that netted 11 points per game during the 2006-07
and helped the Tigers post an 11-12 record. The team's leading
scorer, Boyer connected at an 85% rate from the free-throw line
and a 34% clip from three-point land.
The standards for Academic All-State change each year, depending
upon the field of nominees, but they were extremely high this
year, according to Ardmore Head Boys' Basketball Coach Mark Wilson,
the head of the OBCA. Wilson noted that an ACT score above 24
and a double-digit scoring average were necessary to gain the
recognition. Only seniors were eligible for the award, and Boyer
is one of just 20 players from around the state, regardless of
class, to be selected.
"Tyler is a great student," Larimer lauded. "I
don't think I've really had a student-athlete like that before,
one that had grades like he did."
Larimer elaborated on the honor, explaining, "They (OBCA
board members) had a first team, which is the top five, then
they added some more that were on the Academic All-State team.
That's a really good honor because it doesn't just go by academics,
it also goes by what you did on the court. It's great for us
to have a student-athlete like that. It's not something to take
lightly because that's what we're all about (at NHS), anyway."
To recognize Boyer's accomplishment, the Newkirk All-Sports Booster
Club will purchase an All-State jacket and present it to him
at a home basketball game early in the 2007-08 season. Boyer
remarked, "Getting a coat, that's pretty cool."
A two-sport athlete as a senior, Boyer was also part of the baseball
team where he was a three-year starter. He topped the team hitting
chart with a .379 batting average last spring, and during the
summer, he served as one of the coaches for the Newkirk 15-&-under
baseball team that competed in the Arkansas City Babe Ruth league.
The son and oldest of three children of Steve and Mary Boyer,
Tyler has two younger sisters, Maegan and Allison. He credited
his mother and father for making school work a priority in his
life, offering, "My parents made me get good grades when
I was little, and then I just started wanting to get them."
His zest for athletic competition grew throughout his adolescence
as well until it became a passion of his during high school.
Boyer stated, "I practiced a lot and spent a lot of hours
in the gym alone."
Larimer added, "Tyler liked to shoot the basketball, and
he would come in the gym and shoot and shoot and shoot. And you
have to have that type of perseverance if you want to be good,
and he spent the time to do it."
Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa is the next destination
for Boyer, and he has high aspirations. "I want to get a
4.0, and I would like to play a sport," Boyer issued his
goals.
He hopes to participate in either basketball or baseball at NOC.
Previously, Boyer garnered the prestigious Conoco scholarship,
and he revealed that his academic awards would pay for his first
year of college. He has also been selected to participate in
President's Leadership Council at the two-year school, and after
NOC, Boyer plans to attend Oklahoma State University to pursue
a degree in engineering.
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