This QB thought he may never play football again. Now, he’s committed to Boise State
For the second year in a row, Boise State’s first verbal commitment from a high school recruit has come from a quarterback. The Broncos are hoping to get this one on campus.
Rancho Cucamonga (California) High quarterback CJ Tiller announced Friday afternoon on Twitter that he’s joining the Boise State 2023 class.
St. John Bosco quarterback Katin Houser was the first player who committed to the Broncos’ 2022 class last year, but he flipped his commitment to Michigan State.
Tiller — a three-star recruit who also has scholarship offers from San Jose State, Utah State, San Diego State and Northern Arizona — visited Boise State on March 5. He left impressed and said he shut down his recruitment a few days later.
“My family and I talked and we knew it was the right fit almost as soon as we left,” Tiller told the Idaho Statesman on Friday. “It was like, why wait when you have everything you’re looking for in a perfect school right in front of you?”
Tiller’s plan all along was to be committed by this summer so he could focus on enjoying his senior year. He knows more scholarship offers are going to come. San Diego State came through with an offer Friday morning, but Tiller said he’ll remain firm in his commitment to the Broncos.
“I had to find a place that treated me like family because I’m going to spend the next four to five years there, so I needed that home feel,” Tiller said. “I also had to be in a system that helps me grow as a quarterback, and Boise State does that. I’m 100% sold.”
Sharing his college decision with his coaches and family members was surreal, Tiller said. He spent much of his childhood thinking basketball was his path to the next level — in part because of a diagnosis that put his life on hold in middle school.
In sixth grade, Tiller was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease — a painful disorder caused by inflammation in the digestive tract. Tiller’s doctors said his was one of the most severe cases they’d ever seen.
It was so bad that he had 13 surgeries between sixth and eighth grades, and he was in so much pain that he barely went to school.
There is no cure for Crohn’s disease. Tiller has been in remission for three years, but the memories of the days he spent in a hospital bed made sharing his commitment to Boise State with family and friends even more special.
“Looking at where I’ve come from to where I am today, I’m definitely not going to forget this moment,” Tiller said. “Doctors told me football might not be in my future, but I prayed about it a lot and here I am.”
Tiller spent the first three years of his high school career at Williams Field in Arizona, where he posted 2,458 passing yards and 27 touchdowns in 11 games last fall. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder enrolled at Rancho Cucamonga this year after his family relocated to Southern California.
Assuming he signs with Boise State, Tiller will join a crowded quarterbacks room.
Three-year starter Hank Bachmeier is a senior this year, but he has another season of eligibility because of the extra year offered by the NCAA in response to COVID-19. Walk-on Andy Peters is a redshirt sophomore, while Taylen Green, Oregon State transfer Sam Vidlak, Colton Fitzgerald and Colt Fulton are all redshirt freshmen.
The Broncos have another quarterback who will join the fold this summer in freshman Maddux Madsen, who signed with the program in December.
Boise State’s 2023 recruiting class
QB CJ Tiller, 6-3, 200, Rancho Cucamonga (California) High
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 3:14 PM.
