LARAMIE – Paul Roach and Joe Tiller are smiling somewhere.
 
Marcus Harris was certainly on cloud nine when the 1996 Biletnikoff Award winner found out Wednesday that his All-American predecessor and mentor at Wyoming, Ryan Yarborough, was announced as a member of the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class.
 
Yarborough was the first two-time All-American first team selection in program history after leading the nation in receiving yards in both 1992 (1,351) and 1993 (1,512).
 
While playing for Roach as a freshman and Tiller over the next three seasons, the dynamic Yarborough set the NCAA record for most career receiving yards (4,357 from 1990-93, which still ranks ninth), 200-plus yard receiving games (7), 1,000-yard receiving seasons (3), and games catching a touchdown pass in a career (27).
 
"I think that's amazing, not only for himself, but for the University of Wyoming," Harris said of Yarborough joining Eddie "Boom Boom" Talboom and Jay Novacek as the only UW players in the CFHOF. "A lot of people have their opinions of our small school, our smaller conference, but the dude was sick. He played ball with the best of them, and he treated me super well when I was there. I couldn't have followed a better guy."
 
Harris played with Yarborough as a freshman in 1993 before going on to break his UW records for career receiving yards (4,518) and receptions (259) while also earning All-American honors in 1995 and 1996.
 
Yarborough still holds the UW record for most touchdown receptions (42) ahead of Harris (38).
 
"He set a high standard," Harris said. "One of the funniest things about Ryan was they came out, like my freshman year, with a video of what's no longer tolerated by the NCAA. There was no dancing, no partying, and Yarbs was on that video.  So, we're very different in how we approach the game, but we both wanted to win, we both want to succeed."
 
Yarborough still holds the NCAA record for yards per reception, averaging 19.0 yards on his 229 career catches. The Cowboys appeared in the 1990 and 1993 Copper Bowls and shared the 1993 Western Athletic Conference title during his decorated individual career.
 
"I've told him this before, but as I progressed in my life at the University of Wyoming and as a receiver, his video was ingrained in my head," Harris said. "Every time I would make a catch similar to his, or do something similar to him, it was something I would check off the list, and it let me know that I was becoming something."
 
When Jovon Bouknight, who was inducted into the UW Athletics Hall of Fame last September, was an upperclassman he watched film of Yarborough and Harris to see what made them great.
 
"Those are just legends in my eyes," Bouknight said. "I watched them, and they both had something different to their game. Yarborough was so unique just because of his route running ability and his speed. He's the one that really captivated me and made me really want to achieve those levels of greatness."
 
Bouknight, who returned to Laramie last summer as a member of UW head coach Jay Sawvel's staff, ranks second in receptions (250) and third in receiving yards (3,626) and touchdown catches (29) at UW. He was looking forward to congratulating Yarborough on his CFHOF selection after it became official during Wednesday's live announcement on ESPN2.
 
"That's like family," Bouknight said. "His support (of UW) and the way we support each other, I'm ecstatic. Nobody deserves it more than he does because he's a guy that obviously did it on the field with high class and the way he supports the Cowboys, and the family here is special.
 
"There is a legacy. I think the guys that set the bar here, we've got to strive to get back to that because there were some great ones. I'm not even including myself. Those are the guys I would look up to and that I would strive to be like."
 
After his remarkable career with the Cowboys, Yarborough was a second-round pick of the New York Jets in the 1994 NFL draft. He played six seasons in the league with the Jets, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints.
 
Yarborough was inducted into the UW Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. He currently works as a coach and business consultant in the Houston area.
 
"He was just kind of bigger than life," Harris said of following in Yarborough's footsteps at War Memorial Stadium. "But the thing that made him special to me is he didn't have that persona for me. He didn't have to talk to a little rookie coming in and he always made time for me. I always found that special about Ryan."
 
The 2025 CFHOF class will officially be inducted during the 67th National Football Foundation annual awards dinner on Dec. 9, 2025, at Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.