LARAMIE – Jovon Bouknight lived up to the standard of excellence set by Ryan Yarborough and Marcus Harris.
 
Now the 2024 Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame inductee is resetting the bar for the Cowboys' current wide receivers as their new full-time position coach.
 
Bouknight, who has previously been the wide receivers coach at Oregon, Texas Tech and Kentucky, returned to Laramie last summer as an analyst.
 
UW head coach Jay Sawvel promoted the program's all-time leader in all-purpose yards this offseason. Bouknight's impact was noticeable during spring practice with Jaylen Sargent and Chris Durr Jr. leading a vastly improved group.
 
"I think Jovon has done a tremendous job with the players and the expectations and the standard," Sawvel said on the One Wyoming Podcast. "He coaches them very, very hard and he's very, very exact on those things. You take like Jaylen Sargent and Chris Durr and they absolutely love playing for him and meeting with him and those types of things."
 
Durr led the team in receptions as a true freshman with 31 for 348 yards and a touchdown. His score came late in the loss at Arizona State on a pass from Kaden Anderson, who is now the favorite to be the starting quarterback in 2025.
 
"It feels way different and like I can do anything," Durr said of the difference between enrolling early from high school a year ago compared to his second spring with the Pokes. "I'm 15 pounds bigger, so I feel like I can break more tackles. I'm more explosive, I can catch every ball and my spring this year is way better than my spring last year. I just want to keep going, keep being consistent. …
 
"We just have to remember what we went through last year, how it felt to be 3-9 and never go back."
 
Sargent averaged 20.9 yards per reception with 480 yards and two touchdowns in 2024. The 6-foot-2, 186-pound senior has put himself in a position to have a productive season final season at UW.
 
Sawvel said there was a lack of leadership among the wide receivers last fall, which is something Sargent has vowed to fix.
 
"My confidence is higher than it was last year knowing I'm the senior and I must fill out the role helping the younger players," Sargent said. "I still have that chip on my shoulder to this day. I know exactly what (Sawvel) was talking about. I feel like the leadership was hard to come by. I wanted to change that completely. That's my job as a senior to push that agenda, so I'm trying to do that every single day to the best of my opportunities."
 
Two lanky targets, 6-4 junior Jaylan Bean and 6-3 sophomore Bricen Brantley, made the most of their reps during the spring.
 
"I look at Jaylan Bean and Bricen Brantley as still young and now they're kind of more in the fold and we're seeing some very positive things," Bouknight said.
 
Arizona transfer Jackson Holman, a 6-3 sophomore, will also compete for significant playing time during fall camp.
 
"Jackson has been a stud, man. He's probably one of the most cerebral guys in the group," Bouknight said. "The way he approaches the game is very professional taking notes and applying it out here. He's one of those one-take guys. I say something once and he comes out here and knows it, he remembers it."
 
True freshman Deion DeBlanc, one of UW's prize recruits in the 2025 class, enrolled early with a plan to get on the field early as Durr did. The speedster from Houston had six catches for 48 yards in the spring game.
 
"Looking at Deion he's amazing," Durr said. "He does a lot. He's fast, he's strong and he came in ready. And he's from Texas and those guys have a little different genes. I just see a guy that's developing, and he's got to keep coming along and getting better day by day."
 
Durr and DeBlanc are both listed at 5-10. Bouknight said he will "throw a curveball" at opposing defenses by also using 6-6 Clay Nanke in the slot.
 
The tight end was recruited out of the team's deepest position group by Bouknight to play receiver as a senior.
 
"He's my surprise," Bouknight said. "What Nanke provides is he's 6-6, almost 6-7, and he's long and he can run. He stretches the field vertically and he's getting better as far as his lateral movements.
 
"That group right there I feel very good about."
 
Two transfers, Eric Richardson (Northwest Missouri State) and Michael Fitzgerald (Central Missouri), will join the team for summer workouts May 26.
 
Richardson was held out of spring practice due to an injury. He had 25 receptions for 411 yards and a team-high six touchdowns at Northwest Missouri State last season.
 
"We're really excited to see him get going in the summer because he's extremely fast and he's a good player," Sawvel said.
 
Fitzgerald, who is listed at 6-6, made 55 catches for 835 yards and eight touchdowns in 22 games at Central Missouri. He was added to the roster from the portal last week.
 
Junior Charlie Coenen and redshirt freshmen Tyler Nystrom have developed into dependable targets and will add depth. UW will welcome two more receivers from DeBlanc's class, Pierre "PJ" Jackson from Chicago and Ke'Lyn Washorn from Houston, this summer.
 
"I feel like the potential in the receiver room this year is unlimited, especially knowing the man this year, Kaden Anderson, is going to get it to us every single time," Sargent said of the improved passing game. "We have to make those plays and be confident, especially with a young group.
 
"I feel this group has a fire to them. They want to go out there and show they can play."

(Editor's note: This is the sixth in an eight-part series reviewing UW's position groups. Next Wednesday's review: Running backs).
 
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