Palm Desert's Bryce Boulton commits to play football at University of Oregon

Bryce Boulton has wanted to play football for the University of Oregon for even longer than he’s played tackle football.

On Friday, the 6-foot-3, 265-pound senior three-star prospect from Palm Desert High School publicly committed to play football for the Ducks, starting in 2023. Boulton quietly committed to Ducks coaches in July, when he visited for Oregon's big Saturday Night Live event, but he waited to make it public until now.

Recruiting analyst Greg Biggins, of 247Sports, wrote that he's seen Boulton at multiple camps and that "there is a lot to like about his game and where he's trending." Biggins wrote that Boulton "is built like a tank" and has the length and feet of a offensive tackle but may be better suited to play inside, at guard or center. Biggins added that Boulton "isn't even close to hitting his ceiling" as a player.

Boulton said that he expects to continue his development as a player with the help of coaches at Oregon.

While he was in elementary school, about eight years after he was adopted and moved to the United States from Haiti, Boulton’s mom, Holly Boulton, met one of the school’s boosters in a spin class. She brought home informational pamphlets and brochures about the school to her two sons. They were each fascinated by the school and the football program, which had earned a national reputation for its ability to win games and the flamboyant array of bright Nike uniforms it displays while doing it.

In 2019, Holly Boulton took her sons to an Oregon game versus Arizona State at Autzen Stadium. Bryce was a freshman in high school and was overwhelmed with excitement about finally watching the Ducks play in person.

But he still couldn’t envision himself having the opportunity to one day put on a Ducks uniform. Oregon was Boulton’s school of choice, but it also seemed out of reach for him.

“We started thinking about maybe other schools,” Holly Boulton said. “But Oregon was always the dream.”

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Following her son’s junior year, in 2021, he had not yet received a Division I scholarship offer. The idea of playing for Oregon no longer felt like a dream — it felt more like a pipe dream.

Six months later, that all changed.

Along with a number of other high school football players from the region, Bryce Boulton attended the college camp at the University of Redlands in June. It’s a popular camp series that in 2022 was attended by coaches from Oregon State, Washington State, Washington, Oregon, Boise State, Cal and Colorado State.

With his quick feet, lean muscular build and close attention to detail, Boulton stood out among hundreds of players in attendance. One coach pulled Boulton aside and introduced him to Adrian Klemm, the associate head coach and offensive line and run game coordinator at Oregon. Klemm introduced Boulton to Oregon head coach Dan Lanning.

“It was awesome,” Boulton recalls. “I was meeting guys who could change my life.”

Following the conversation, Oregon coaches asked Holly Boulton if she could get her son up to a camp held in Eugene, Oregon, later in the month. At that camp, coaches made it clear for the hundreds in attendance that they were simply evaluating prospects and that no scholarships would be offered that day.

Holly Boulton recalls the camp being the most competitive her son attended. She said several players were bigger and clearly among the top players her son has competed against. But she also remembers seeing Bryce rise to the challenge.

“He just turned it up a notch,” Holly Boulton said. “I’ve never seen him compete like that. It was incredible.”

Before the end of the day, Oregon coaches met privately with Boulton and extended a scholarship offer.

By then, Boulton had already received scholarship offers from Idaho, Northern Arizona, Colorado and Hawaii. But the offer from Oregon was the one he had been working for since elementary school. Boulton offered a verbal commitment to Oregon coaches, but last month decided he was ready to make his commitment public and end his recruitment.

“When I got that offer,” Boulton said. “I wanted to consider my options, but I also didn’t really want to wait. Oregon is the school for me.”

Though Boulton plays on the offensive line at Palm Desert High, he may not end up there at Oregon. One advantage he has is that he can play multiple positions on the field. While he can play all the positions on the offensive line, he's also played some defensive end this season and has the quick feet and hands to also play tight end or even linebacker for the Ducks.

Oregon coaches are unable to comment on specific players until those players have signed a letter of intent to enroll. Boulton will do that as early as Dec. 21 as part of the early signing period.

Until then, Boulton said he’ll focus on finishing his high school football career by helping the Aztecs to another potential league championship and possibly a deep CIF playoff run.

"Six months ago, I didn't think I'd have this opportunity," Boulton said. "Now, here I am committed to my dream school. It's a really exciting time."

Andrew John covers sports for The Desert Sun and the USA Today Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com and find him on Twitter at @Andrew_L_John.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Desert's Bryce Boulton commits to play football at Oregon