Southern California Strong Safety Has UW Among 3 Finalists
Christian Pierce, a hard-hitting strong safety from Rancho Cucamonga, California, will choose his college football destination from among UCLA, USC and Washington, he revealed on Thursday on social media.
At the same time, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound defensive back, who played for the Rancho Cucamonga High Cougars, eliminated 14 other schools from the process, including Michigan.
It should be noted that Pierce received the Wolverines offer last September from one Courtney Morgan, now working hard to sign him for the Huskies.
Add to that, it wouldn't be surprising at all if Cam Davis and Taj Davis, the UW's earlier imports from Rancho Cucamonga, aren't in his ear, encouraging him to come north to join them. They played for rival Upland High in the Southern California city.
Whoever gets Pierce will pick up a player not afraid of contact. He averaged 8.6 tackles per game this past season for a 6-6 team, opening with 15 tackles in a 27-19 victory over Apple Valley.
Even more impressive was his uncanny sense of finding the football and coming up with it — he intercepted 9 passes, including 3 in a 34-10 victory over Alta Loma.
It's clear when teams threw his way, Pierce wasn't interested in knocking the ball down. He finished with just 5 pass deflections.
The Huskies offered him on Dec. 15, shortly after Kalen DeBoer was hired as coach and Morgan left Michigan to join him in Seattle as his player personnel director.
Pierce has said he expects to settle on a school this summer.
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