4-star EDGE James Pearce commits to Tennessee Volunteers

Four-star Charlotte (NC) Vance EDGE James Pearce has committed to Tennessee, he announced Wednesday afternoon on National Signing Day. 

Pearce is the No. 189 prospect in the 2022 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is ranked as the nation’s No. 16 EDGE and the No. 4 player in the state of North Carolina. 

On3’s own rankings are significantly higher on Pearce than the rest of the industry, pegging him as the nation’s No. 57 prospect, No. 6 EDGE and No. 1 player in North Carolina.

The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder chose the Volunteers over 17 other offers, including South Carolina, Georgia, Missouri and Louisville and others. He is the the Volunteers’ 19th commit in the 2022 cycle, joining four-stars Tyre West, Addison Nichols and and Joshua Josephs, as well as seven other prospects ranked in the top 400 nationally.

Pearce took his first official visit to Missouri in June, then visited Georgia once and Tennessee three times unofficially this fall.

He told On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons two weeks ago that he was planning to wait until February, but opted to pull the trigger now instead.