Idaho’s top high school football player passes on Boise State, commits to Big Ten team

The top high school football player in Idaho is taking his talents out of state.

Gooding tight end Colston Loveland announced his verbal committed to Michigan on Sunday evening on Twitter — ending months of speculation about where the four-star recruit would spend his college career after he earned scholarship offers from Boise State and a handful of the top college football programs in the country, including Alabama and Auburn.

Loveland — a 6-foot-5, 230-pound Gooding native — also has offers from LSU, Arizona, Michigan, Arizona State, Oregon State, Colorado, UCLA, Utah, Utah State, Nevada, UNLV and Idaho State, according to 247Sports, which has ranked him the No. 1 overall prospect in Idaho and the No. 13 tight end in the 2022 class. Boise State extended an offer last fall.

He took an unofficial visit to Boise State the first weekend in June, which is when the NCAA’s ban on in-person visits ended, and posed for a photo with former quarterback commit Katin Houser, who posted it on Twitter with the caption “Future teammates?” Houser flipped to Michigan State last week.

Loveland also took his first official visit to Arizona on the first weekend in June, before also visiting Arizona State, Oregon State and Michigan. He toured the Wolverines campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on June 25 and said that sealed the deal.

“I just loved it right when I got there,” Loveland told the Statesman on Sunday. “The players and the culture were awesome, the coaches were super cool and there’s tons of talent. It just felt right.”

It’s the third year in a row and fourth time in the past six years that the Broncos have missed out on the state’s top-rated recruit. Last year, former Moscow Senior linebacker Jonah Elliss signed with Utah. In 2020, former Middleton offensive lineman Gaard Memmalaar picked Washington.

The last time Idaho’s top recruit signed with Boise State was 2019, when former Declo running back Keegan Duncan joined the Broncos. He has since transferred to Mountain West rival Utah State. Boise State also signed former Highland defensive end Aisa Kelemete, who ranked No. 1 in the state in 2017, but the redshirt senior has yet to earn consistent playing time for the Broncos.

Loveland said Boise State recruited him pretty hard, with coaches reaching out several times a week. But in the end, where he played college football wasn’t as important finding the right fit.

“It’s not a big deal for me,” Loveland said of spending the next several years more than 1,900 miles away from his home state. “I was open to anything, and I’m not opposed to moving out of state at all.”

Michigan went 2-4 last fall after having its final three games of the season canceled because of COVID-19, but the Wolverines have been ranked in the final AP Top 25 poll 13 times since 2000. They’ve also won 13 Big Ten championships in program history.

The Wolverines are coached by Jim Harbaugh — a former Michigan quarterback, who went on to play and coach in NFL, most recently with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014. He took over at Michigan in 2015, and Loveland said conversations with Harbaugh helped convince him to join the Wolverines’ 2022 recruiting class, which ranks No. 4 in the Big Ten and No. 12 nationally, according to 247Sports.

“I mean he’s Jim Harbaugh. Of course that played a big role,” Loveland said. “He talked a lot about his past and what he plans to do with the tight ends this season, which was super cool.”

Loveland is only the fourth recruit to come out of Idaho with a four-star rating since 2002, joining former Highland defensive lineman Tommy Togiai (Ohio State), Coeur d’Alene quarterback Colson Yankoff (Washington/UCLA), Highland offensive lineman Tristen Hoge (Notre Dame/BYU) and Eagle quarterback Tanner Mangum (BYU).

Loveland first turned heads as a wide receiver his sophomore season at Gooding, but he has grown into one of the nation’s top tight ends, according to national recruiting editor Brandon Huffman, who has praised his skills as a blocker and a receiver.

“He’s a natural pass-catcher, with soft hands, good, crisp routes, and ball skills to go and high-point it,” Huffman wrote on Loveland’s recruiting profile. “(He) can make people miss in the open field and routinely gets yards after the catch.”

Last fall, Loveland hauled in 69 passes for 816 yards and six touchdowns. At Gooding, he plays for a school of just 400 students, back the Broncos have had success with recruits from many of Idaho’s small towns in the past, including Shea McClellin (Marsing High), Matt Paradis (Council) and Leighton Vander Esch (Salmon River).

Loveland is excited to show the Big Ten what a small-town kid from the Gem State can do.

“It’s going to be a grind and a big switch for me, but that’s what I’ve been working to prepare for,” he said.

Idaho’s top high school football recruits

2022: TE Colston Loveland (Gooding) Michigan

2021: LB Jonah Elliss (Moscow) Utah

2020: OL Gaard Memmalaar (Middleton) Washington

2019: RB Keegan Duncan (Declo) Boise State/Utah State

2018: DL Tommy Togiai (Highland) Ohio St

2017: DE Asia Kelemente (Highland) Boise State

2016: DT Wayne Kirby (Highland) Oregon

2015: OL Tristen Hoge (Highland) Notre Dame/BYU

2014: DE Don Hill (Timberline) USC

* Rankings are from 247Sports