Varsity Insider

Several Section 1 football players earn scholarships to Division I and II programs every year, but only the rare ones do it at the Division I-A, major-college level. And from Bronxville? It’s rarer still. In fact, it’s much, much more rare.

Yet that’s what junior lineman Kieran Borcich (right, in white) has accomplished. As a few of you have mentioned in recent days, Borcich became the first member of the Class of 2011 to commit to play football in college. He fielded scholarship offers from 10 major programs before settling on Boston College for its Top 25-level football team and its strong academic reputation.

The 6-foot-3 (and 1/2), 270-pound Borcich received his first offer from Rutgers — the first program to recruit him, too — on Feb. 4. Offers followed from BC, Syracuse, UConn, Maryland, Duke, Michigan State, Baylor, Buffalo and, most recently, Stanford. With his size, skill and academic gifts, Borcich was the type of recruit coaches salivated over — once they found out who he was.

As you can read in today’s story, the turning point came last summer. Borcich told me he and his parents were trying to decide whether he should aim high and attend camp at Rutgers or play it more conservatively and attend camp at Princeton. At his mother’s urging, Borcich chose the former. A few strong workouts later Division I colleges were on his tail.

Borcich stayed away from the recruiting chase until after Bronxville’s run to the Class C state final at the Dome. After that he spent the early part of the winter building relationships with coaches through e-mail and distributing his highlight tape. Many liked what they saw. Rutgers line coach Kyle Flood raved to Napolitano about how quickly Borcich exploded on the snap.

Ultimately, Borcich’s decision came down to BC and Rutgers. He felt comfortable with both coaching staffs and both colleges but he believed BC offered more. The academics. A better college experience, where he would be surrounded by regular students as well as teammates. And a broader college experience because of the school’s location on the fringes of Boston.

I also asked Borcich this question: Why now? He said the recruiting experience had its positives, but he was ready to return to the daily grind of being the best student and football player he could be.

I have schoolwork to do. I have to be here working out with my teammates. It’s tough flying around for visits all the time. But I really liked Boston College. At the end of the day, I loved the place. It was the right place for me. I didn’t see any sense waiting.