To say that Chicago (Ill.) Brother Rice senior inside linebacker recruit Christian Pierce (6-foot-0, 210 pounds) had a wild ride with his recruiting process might be the understatement of the decade. Pierce, who at one point in his recruiting process was one of the more sought after names in the Class of 2025 and was toting offers from Power 4 programs across the county, then quietly on Tuesday morning announce his commitment to in-state Western Illinois University. Pierce talks about his long recruiting process and eventual commitment to Western Illinois here.

"I just feel blessed to have an opportunity to keep playing football in college for WIU," Pierce said. "WIU started reaching out to me in December and they stayed with me all along. I made a visit to WIU and I had a great visit with my family. WIU believed in me and offered me a scholarship. I'm excited and ready to go into WIU and play my best football."

So how did Pierce go from highly ranked and sought after recruit to seeking any opportunity to keep playing football at the next level?

"I guess the best answer I can give is that I just had terrible timing. The knee injury in my junior year played a role and schools seemed to back off, but a lot of things changed with the recruiting process at that same time. Schools pretty much can't recruit walk on's anymore and they have limited the overall roster size which also limited my opportunities. Rosters are starting to shrink and schools who really liked me and offered me early just started to fill up. I felt good about how I came back from the injury and I felt like was back on my game in my senior year. The timing was just bad for me and by the time the colleges re-evaluated by senior season video, they already had filled up."

Pierce never wavered in his belief in himself and landing an opportunity to play in college, and his support system played a big role in his confidence.

"I would never say I was worried about it, but once the season ended things got very quiet. My family along with my coaches always had my back. My feeling was after suffering the injury my junior year, I was just grateful to still be playing football. All I needed was an opportunity and once WIU reached out to me we talked quite a bit and they just made me feel wanted at WIU."

So what is Western Illinois getting in Christian Pierce?

"I'll be bringing leadership to WIU along with just bringing energy every day. I've always been a play maker at every level and that's my plan at WIU. I've always been a team guy and I plan to keep being a team guy and help WIU win."

Christian Pierce is committed to Western Illinois University.