“As the time came down, I realized I really didn’t want to go that far, 13 hours away, and when I committed to Boston College, I didn’t have a Michigan State offer,” Boisture said. “I’ve always been a State fan. It was tough for (Boston College) and it was tough for me because I had good relationships there and Boston College is a great school, but I just felt Michigan State is the best place for me.”

The switch didn’t only surprise Boston College. It surprised Boisture’s father, Marty.

“I thought it was a done deal with Boston College,” Marty Boisture said. “He didn’t even tell me he called (MSU running backs) coach (Dan Enos) and (MSU quarterbacks) coach (Dave Warner). I had no idea.”

A four-star recruit by recruiting Web site Rivals.com, the 6-foot-6 Boisture has racked up accolades. He was part of the Elite 11 quarterback camp, where the top quarterbacks in the nation gather for four days and are tutored by some of the best college quarterbacks in the nation. He also will compete in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 9, a high school all-star game where he will be one of 45 players and three quarterbacks on the East squad.

“He’s going to be playing with and against some of the best high school football players in America,” said Barry Every, a football recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. “He’s already competed with 12 of the best quarterbacks in the country, now he’s going to the next level at an all-star game with receivers like he’s never thrown to before and defensive ends coming at him.”

It will be a different environment for Boisture, who transferred from Goodrich High School to Saline because of his father’s job for his senior season. This year, Saline struggled with injuries on the offensive line and finished 3-6.

“We wanted to find a school where he’d play the most difficult competition and we found it,” Marty Boisture said. “It was a more sophisticated offense that he had to learn and for those two reasons, playing against the best and getting in a more sophisticated offense, he accomplished what he wanted to do.”

A pro-style quarterback, Boisture said he combines an accurate arm with a good football IQ. He’s not the most mobile quarterback — “I’m not going to outrun anybody, but I can avoid a few people,” he says — but thinks he can get yards when he needs to.

Every said Boisture is a “poor man’s Ryan Mallet,” referring to the 6-foot-7 former Michigan and current Arkansas quarterback.

In Saline’s final game of the season at Chelsea, Boisture was scrambling when he was drilled by two Chelsea players, one from behind. He lay motionless on the field and was knocked unconscious for two minutes, he said. He was carted off the field on a stretcher and was taken to a nearby hospital. Boisture said he had a few headaches for about a week, but is now “good to go.”

Boisture has a bright future ahead of him. He graduated high school Tuesday and will enroll at MSU in time for spring semester and will participate in spring practice. He is expected to redshirt in 2010 and Marty Boisture said MSU head coach Mark Dantonio told them he will have a chance to compete for the starting job with freshman Andrew Maxwell in 2012.

“Playing in spring ball is a good way to get accustomed to the players and the coaches and how they do things earlier and I think it’ll benefit me in the long run,” Joe Boisture said. “I’ll have to wait my turn and fight it out with Maxwell.”