2024 LB Payton Pierce has Texas A&M in final six, will commit Tuesday night

Four-star linebacker Payton Pierce of Lucas (TX) Lovejoy High will announce his college decision today at 6 PM Central Time. Things have moved quickly for Pierce, who announced his plans to commit just this afternoon.

The 6-foot-2, 225 pounder will choose between Texas, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Notre Dame.

Pierce ranks as the No. 201 player in the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also tabs in as the No. 21 linebacker and the No. 37 player in the state of Texas.

What Pierce said about Texas A&M in his top-6

“I’ve visited Texas A&M a lot and I think a lot of things stick out about them. They’re very close to home, the linebacker room is very thin and playing in the SEC and Kyle field is awesome. I have really good relationships with their coaches and I believe that they could make me better.”

Texas A&M worked to make a move for the talented in-state linebacker, hosting him on three unofficial visits since last summer.

Pierce had a strong relationship with former Aggies Co-DC/LB coach Tyler Santucci, who was hired by Duke earlier this offseason.

“I am in contact with Coach [Tyler] Santucci and (Analyst) [Alex] Garwig all the time. Love those guys,” Pierce said in January.

Santucci’s departure surely could have led to the Aggies possibly dwindling in Pierce’s recruitment. The Lucas, who is 200 miles away from College Station, has not visited since mid-January.

Ohio State is leading the way ahead of decision time

The Ohio State Buckeyes were a fairly late addition to Pierce’s recruitment but have really made a surge in his recruitment.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine gives Ohio State a major lead to land a commitment from Pierce at 92.8%. There are currently six On3 Predictions in favor of the Buckeyes winning out in this recruitment.

RPM was released to the public in December 2021. The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college.It factors in machine learning, social sentiment, visits and historical trends. However, expert predictions are still a big piece of the RPM equation.

It factors in machine learning, social sentiment, visits and historical trends. However, expert predictions are still a big piece of the RPM equation.

The four-star has an On3 NIL Valuation of $70K. The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.