Road to the Final Four Sports Editor Joe Morgan � Cover illustration photos Aundre Larrow � Cover design Aundre Larrow and Landon Watnick Alligator, Friday, March 22, 2013 Building His Legacy Javier Edwards / Alligator Senior guard Kenny Boynton (1) smiles after cutting the final strands of the net after Florida’s 66-40 win against Vanderbilt on March 6 in the O’Connell Center. Boynton has won to SEC championships as a Gator. Kenny on the hardwood. Together, they helped Ely win the FHSAA Class 6A state Final Four chase, academics motivated Boynton to stay at Florida championship in 2006. But after his sophomore season, Kenny LANDON WATNICK Despite a few shooting slumps along Boynton is truly loved inside of our team made a surprising decision, transferring Alligator Writer the way, Boynton has averaged 14.1 points because he’s a great teammate. When he’s from Ely to American Heritage. per game on 39.9 percent shooting in 141 making some shots, it livens up our team, Academics were as one of the main rea- Many people thought Kenny Boynton games. because our team looks to him in a lot of Boynton never imagined he would re- sons Kenny transferred. would leave Florida after his freshman sea- During his time in Gainesville, Boynton ways.” main at Florida for four years, but his par- “I felt like Ely wasn’t a challenge for son three years ago. has helped the Gators earn two Elite Eight During his career, Boynton has devel- ents did. him,” Dana said. When he first committed to Florida on appearances and a pair of SEC regular-sea- oped multiple facets of his game outside of His family never wanted him to be a one- “I wanted him to be challenged and col- Oct. 30, 2008, the phrase “one and done” son titles. scoring. and-done player. lege-ready. It was a very hard process, very was often thrown around to describe the He ranks second on UF’s all-time scoring Boynton has improved his rebounding “I don’t believe in that, unless if you’re hard. … Deep down inside, I’m sure he un- McDonald’s All-American from Pompano list with 1,995 points and owns the school (3.1 boards per game) this season. In his four LeBron James or what have you,” said Dana derstood.” Beach. record for three-point shots made. years at UF, he has become one of Florida’s Boynton, Kenny’s mother. Kenny was not struggling academical- Boynton came to Gainesville as the No. “I didn’t think about breaking records top on-ball defenders. “I wanted him to experience the college ly at Ely. He posted a 3.5 GPA during his 12 recruit in his class — the highest-ranked or anything like that when I first got here,” As Florida’s backup point guard this life.” sophomore year, according to Randall. player coach Billy Donovan had success- Boynton said. season, Boynton has improved his ability to Kenny comes from a tight-knit family “[Kenny is] the type where he wanted fully recruited and signed at the time since Heading into No. 3 seed Florida’s second- distribute the ball, averaging a career-best that always emphasized the importance of to be pushed even more,” Randall said. “I Rivals.com began ranking basketball pros- round NCAA Tournament matchup against three assists per game. academics and following a blueprint out- thought that was pretty cool. A lot of kids pects in 2003. 14th-seeded Northwestern State tonight at Donovan admires Boynton’s emotional side the world of basketball. these days want to transfer for — I shouldn’t For a team coming off consecutive NIT 7:27 p.m., Boynton is 95 points shy of Ron- consistency as much as the senior’s steady Dana, 46, has been a teacher for more say for the wrong reasons — but for the ath- appearances in 2007-2009, the 6-foot-2 nie Williams’ scoring record. play on the floor. than 25 years. She currently teaches English letic reasons instead of the academic rea- Boynton was expected to be an immediate If Florida were to advance to the national “When you’re dealing with young peo- at Pompano Beach Middle School. sons.” but temporary solution in the backcourt for title game, Boynton would need to average ple, there’s usually a wide range of emo- Kenny’s father, Kenny Boynton Sr., 48, Kenny, 21, is set to graduate from UF in the Gators, who had just lost starting point 19 points per game to tie Williams. tions sometimes you have to deal with,” was a standout at Bethune-Cookman for May with a degree in sociology. guard Nick Calathes to a professional team While the all-time scoring feat seems out Donovan said. four seasons. Once Kenny’s playing career is done in Greece. of reach for Boynton, he has never been en- “Somebody’s box that they play in is —whether it’s at the NBA or overseas — his As an undersized but electric guard, thralled with records or statistics. pretty wide. He’s about as consistent of a “He’s about as consistent family members see him pursuing a profes- Boynton was a scoring machine in high “Kenny’s about the team stats and get- guy as I’ve coached since his freshman year. of a guy as I’ve coached sion involving sports. school. ting victories for his team,” said Danny His mood never changes. He’s reliable. You since his freshman year. Deandre thinks Kenny would eventually After splitting four years at Pompano Herz, Boynton’s high school coach at Amer- know what you’re getting.” His mood never changes. want to coach down the line. Beach Blanche Ely High and American Her- ican Heritage. “He’s been around individ- In his four seasons as a Gator, Boynton He’s reliable. You know “At the end of the day with today’s gen- itage High in Plantation, Boynton finished ual stats all his life because of his scoring has also blossomed off the court. Coming what you’re getting.” eration, you don’t see it a lot,” Deandre prowess.” to Florida as a reserved, soft-spoken kid, his high school career as the third-leading Billy Donovan said. “You can look at people like LeBron This season, Boynton has seen a drop- Boynton only would let loose around his scorer in the history of Florida high school UF coach and look at other guys, but Kenny will have basketball and one of the best players from off as a scorer, averaging a career-worst family and those in his close circle. something those guys don’t have — a de- Broward County. 12.3 points per game on a career-low 10.3 Through the years, he has gradually bro- He is now a deputy with the Broward gree.” On the surface, everything about Boyn- attempts per game. He has dealt with two ken out of his shell. County Sheriff’s department. Added Dana: “What I wanted to see is ton shouted “NBA” and “one and done.” five-game shooting slumps this year – a pair Boynton can often be seen bantering with Kenny’s older brother, Deandre Boyn- being done.” “I know a lot of people expected it to go of droughts where he shot 13 of 51 and 17 his teammates during warm-ups and after ton, 26, was a point guard at Division II that way,” Boynton said. of 53. games. His favorite things to joke about are West Florida from 2005-2009 and still owns “When he struggles, he always comes rap lyrics and the rivalry between Kobe Bry- school records in steals and assists. out with a little bang,” senior forward Erik ant and LeBron James. Deandre currently lives in Houston Boynton has achieved many things in his Murphy said. “My freshman and sophomore year, he and has worked as a sports agent at Im- four-year career at Florida, but still missing Although his NBA stock is no longer as “We always have confidence in him re- didn’t really talk too much to everyone pact Sports Management for the past three is a key accomplishment: a Final Four ap- high as it once was, Boynton has developed gardless. I always think he’s going to score else,” junior center Patric Young said. years. pearance. into one of the best players to don a Florida or make shots.” “But this year I really got a chance to see Kendia, 27, Kenny’s older sister, gradu- After two straight heartbreaking losses uniform. Boynton has also struggled late in games who he is as a person. He’s a really great ated from Florida A&M in 2009 and is em- in the Elite Eight to Butler in 2011 and Lou- Boynton has been a cog in UF’s start- this season, shooting 0 of 2 from the field guy, really funny, a really good guy to be ployed at a property insurance firm in Fort isville in 2012, Boynton is hungry to take the ing lineup at shooting guard the past four in the final 30 seconds when Florida trails a around.” Lauderdale. next step. years, starting 138 games and logging 4,564 team by one or two points. Added Boynton’s roommate and senior Kenny’s parents know plenty about plan- Over the phone Tuesday night, Randall minutes – both school bests. “When people watch him and the ball forward Erik Murphy: “That’s just come ning ahead. spoke to Boynton, who sought advice be- He has not missed a game in his colle- doesn’t go in the basket, it’s very, very easy with age for him.