Jada Boyd to return for NC State women’s basketball after previously announcing departure
Jada Boyd will be on the N.C. State women’s basketball team next season after all.
Less than two weeks after it was announced that Boyd would not be returning for her senior year, it turns out she will play for the Pack during its 2022-23 season.
N.C. State spokesperson Matti Smith confirmed that Boyd is enrolled in school and officially back with the team. Boyd was not immediately made available for comment.
A native of Petersburg, Virginia, Boyd was a key reserve for the Pack the past three seasons. As a sophomore, Boyd was named the ACC Co-Sixth Player of the Year.
In three seasons, Boyd appeared in 83 games with seven career starts. She averaged 8.6 points per game for her career. As a sophomore, Boyd averaged 11.5 points per game off the bench.
In 2021-22, she helped lead N.C. State to its third consecutive ACC tournament title. After the Pack defeated Miami in the championship game, she was named to the all-tournament team. During the Pack’s 2020-21 NCAA tournament run, Boyd filled in for injured starter Kayla Jones and responded with three 18-point games, shooting 64.7 percent from the field.
Where Boyd fits
The only returning starter for N.C. State is senior wing Jakia Brown-Turner. Boyd is expected to compete for one of the other four spots.
She has started seven games for the Wolfpack. Diamond Johnson will likely replace Raina Perez as the Pack’s starting point guard, while senior Camille Hobby and Florida State transfer River Baldwin will compete for the starting center spot.
If Wes Moore decides to go bigger this season, he could go with Boyd at one forward spot and South Carolina transfer Saniya Rivers in the backcourt with Johnson. Boyd’s biggest competition for the forward spot figures to be Maryland transfer Mimi Collins.
Boyd played 21.6 minutes per game as a sophomore, averaging 11.5 points per contest. She missed the first six games of the 2021-22 season with a hand injury and made her debut against Maryland on Nov. 25.
This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 2:28 PM.
