Boise State adds a transfer LB from the ACC and a former USC commit to its 2020 class
Boise State added a graduate transfer linebacker from the ACC and a former University of Southern California commit to its 2020 recruiting class on Sunday evening.
Former N.C. State linebacker Brock Miller announced on Twitter that he’ll join the Broncos this season. He’s eligible to play immediately, and he’ll have one year of eligibility remaining. Miller is on course to graduate in May, and then he’ll join the team for summer conditioning.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to see the west coast,” Miller said by phone Sunday as he was returning to Raleigh, North Carolina, after visiting Boise State over the weekend. “It’s such a respected program, and it’s hard to win in college football and they have a good track record with that. And they have some of the best facilities I’ve seen.”
He was listed on N.C. State’s depth chart as an outside linebacker, but Miller said he spent the majority of his time playing in the tackle box. His role was similar to that of Boise State’s WILL linebacker, which was filled last season by Riley Whimpey, who led the Broncos with 83 tackles.
Coming out of John Carroll High School in Vero Beach, Florida, Miller was a three-star recruit and the No. 79 outside linebacker in the class of 2016, according to 247Sports. He chose N.C. State from a pile of 24 scholarship offers.
Boise State recruited Miller out of high school, but he said he wasn’t ready to move across the country when he was 18.
“I don’t think I was mature enough to move across the country,” Miller said. “I was telling coach today, if they were closer to my house back then, I probably would have come in a heartbeat.”
In 2016, former Boise State defensive coordinator Andy Avalos was Miller’s main recruiter, but he said Broncos coach Bryan Harsin played a major role. He also said once he was granted his release and entered his name into the transfer portal, Boise State was the first program to reach out.
“It was, in my opinion, the best opportunity for me for one last year,” Miller said. “It should be a pretty easy transition, already having a relationship with (Harsin).”
Miller started 11 games for the Wolfpack last season as a redshirt junior and tallied 40 tackles, seven tackles for loss and one sack. After missing the final seven games of the 2017 season with a shoulder injury, he started two games in 2018, including N.C. State’s loss to Texas A&M in the Gator Bowl.
The 6-foot-3, 238-pound Port St. Lucie, Florida, native began his college career at 205 pounds, but Miller grew into an ACC linebacker and learned a few tricks of the trade.
“I think I’ve always been athletic, but at this level everyone is an athlete, so you need something that distinguishes yourself,” Miller said. “I had really good coaches, who really set a good foundation for me and taught me how to use my hands and deliver a strike when I’m trying to get off blocks.”
Miller is joining an experienced group of linebackers, which now looks like one of the team’s deeper units.
Whimpey is back, as is fellow senior Benton Wickersham, who finished third on the team last season with 63 tackles. They’re joined by redshirt junior Ezekiel Noa, who was the team’s leading tackler last fall when he was lost for the year with a torn ACL in the fourth game of the season against Air Force.
About two hours after Miller’s commitment hit Twitter, three-star offensive lineman Kyle Juergens gave the Broncos his verbal commitment.
“Can’t express how blessed I feel for the opportunity to play and study at Boise State,” he wrote.
A 6-foot-6, 260-pound San Juan Capistrano native, Juergens verbally committed to USC in June 2019 but reopened his recruitment in December.
Juergens started on the offensive and defensive lines at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, but he confirmed on Sunday evening that he’ll begin his Boise State career as an offensive lineman.
That’s a position where the Broncos need plenty of bodies after losing four of last season’s five starters. Center Garrett Larson and guards John Molchon and Eric Quevedo were all seniors, and left tackle Ezra Cleveland left for the NFL Draft a year early.
Miller and Juergens are the 18th and 19th known members of the Broncos’ 2020 class, which 247Sports ranks No. 1 in the Mountain West and No. 72 in the country. The class lost wide receiver Chance Luper, who reopened his recruitment on Thursday, but Boise State signed 15 recruits on early signing day.
2020 recruiting class
▪ DB Isaiah Bradford, 6-0, 170, Redlands (Calif.) East Valley High
▪ OT Brandon Hernandez, 6-6, 275, Yucaipa (Calif.) High
▪ TE Russell Corrigan, 6-4, 230, Hutchinson (Minn.) High
▪ CB Donovan Clark, 6-3, 190, Lincoln High (Tacoma, Wash.)
▪ CB Kaonohi Kaniho, 6-0, 180, Kahuku (Hawaii) High
▪ OG Nathan Cardona, 6-3, 280, Yorba Linda (Calif.) High
▪ DE Robert Cooper, 6-5, 255, Bethel High (Spanaway, Wash.)
▪ DL Nick Booker-Brown, 6-4, 275, Westfield High (Houston, Texas)
▪ WR Latrell Caples, 6-0, 185, Lancaster (Texas) High
▪ OT Riden Leong, 6-5, 320, Orange Coast College (Waimanalo, Hawaii)
▪ WR Chance Luper, 6-2, 180, Fort Worth Christian School (North Richland Hills, Texas)
▪ S Semaj Verner, 6-2, 185, Mayfair High (Lakewood, California)
▪ DT Herbert Gums, 6-1, 284, Diboll (Texas) High
▪ DE Shane Irwin, 6-4, 252, Long Beach City College (Palos Verdes Peninsula, California)
▪ DT Divine Obichere, 6-4, 295, Long Beach City College (Long Beach, California)
▪ DB Rodney Robinson, 5-10, 265, Cajon High (San Bernardino, California)
▪ QB Cade Fennegan, 6-2, 275, Woodrow Wilson High (Dallas, Texas)
▪ LB Brock Miller, 6-3, 238, N.C. State (Port St. Lucie, Florida)
▪OL Kyle Juergens, 6-6, 260, St. Margaret’s Episcopal (San Juan Capistrano, California)
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 5:38 PM.
