Brandon Boykin got game.

Boykin, one of Georgia’s starting corners as a sophomore, can jump. On Web sites following his recruitment out of high school, he was listed as having a 39-inch vertical jump, something he says has “probably gotten bigger and better” since he came to Georgia.

The former high school basketball star has been doing it, and surprising onlookers and doubters, as long as he can remember.

“I went to the [then-Kentucky basketball coach] Tubby Smith camp my ninth grade year,” said Boykin, who stands at 5-foot-10. “I started dunking before the games, and they told Tubby Smith that I could jump so he called me out in front of the whole camp.

“I did a 360.”

But it wasn’t Boykin’s first dunk. That came earlier the same year, when he says he was just 5-foot-8 or so.

On an alley oop.

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“He’s a Georgia boy who loves the Dogs and always did, and you just love guys like that,” coach Mark Richt said of the Fayetteville native.

“After our [pre-game warmup] and then they walk down to the end zone and they come back to where I’m at, the last couple games when he comes running toward me, he does this vertical jump where he’ll jump to about where my eyes are . It’s amazing how high he can jump. We’ve got to figure out a way to use that too.”

It was Boykin’s Georgia-record 100-yard kick return for a touchdown (not to mention another returned to the 49-yard line and almost broke for a score) that electrified Sanford Stadium Saturday against South Carolina.

But his second-quarter interception, the Bulldogs’ first of the season, was equally as breathtaking, as he leapt high and to his left to snag Stephen Garcia’s pass out of the air.

“I knew, and my teammates knew, what I was capable of,” Boykin said. “They always said that I was a practice All-American, I always make great plays in practice but hadn’t really gotten the chance to make them in the game. I’m glad I finally got my chance.”

Added safety Bryan Evans: “We just called him that to mess with him. It got under his skin.”

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In his first season getting regular playing time, Boykin has played well.

He was part of the Georgia secondary that kept Oklahoma State’s Dez Bryant largely under wraps, and he’s caught plenty of attention for his performance against South Carolina – never mind the fact that’s he’s replacing a Bulldog fan favorite (Asher Allen) at boundary corner and even wearing his number (No. 2), or that he’s the youngest starter on Georgia’s experienced defense.

“Facebook messages, text messages, phone calls from distant relatives I’ve never even heard of, third grade teachers, it’s crazy,” Boykin said.

“But I gotta get ready for this week, so I’m putting all that behind me.”

Saturday in Arkansas, Boykin will be looking to make more big defensive plays, and put more opponents behind him on special teams, something he’s still getting accustomed to.

“I’d never returned a kickoff for a touchdown, actually,” Boykin said. “I’ve returned a punt but never a kick. A hundred yards on my second kickoff in my life, that’s pretty crazy. I’m pretty much speechless. It’s still surreal for me.”

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Brandon Boykin grew up playing a number of sports. But now he looks like a football player, both physically and on the field.

His high school basketball highlight tape on YouTube has been supplanted by two jaw-dropping plays from a single college football game.

“I thought I was going to be a baseball player until I entered high school, then I thought I was going to be a basketball player,” he said. “And then I found out I was pretty good at football. So that worked out.”

Indeed it has.

“That’s the thing,” said corner Chad Gloer, who went to school cross-town from Boykin’s Fayette County High School.

“With Boykin, he’s constantly working on everything. When he gets in the game he expects to make plays, and he should because that’s how hard he practices. A lot of people practice hard, but with Boykin it’s like every play is a game play.”

Gloer, two years Boykin’s senior, never actually saw him play in high school. But word of mouth preceded his arrival in Athens.

“I had heard a lot about him already,” Gloer said. “It really wasn’t a surprise to me what he’s already done here.”