Texas A&M in the top ten for 2024 four-star LB Payton Pierce

2024 Lucas (Texas) Lovejoy four-star linebacker Payton Pierce is down to ten schools and Texas A&M remains in the mix along with Arkansas, Baylor, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Tennessee and Texas.

The four-star, who ranks right outside the top-100 in the On3 Consensus, recently caught up with Aggie Scoop on the latest in his recruitment.

This season, he’s tripped to Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor, Wisconsin, TCU, Notre Dame, Tennessee and recently made his first gameday visit to Texas A&M. 

“That trip was great,” he said. “I mean, we had a blast. My mom and my dad came up, I think we came up probably around four or five on Saturday and then watched the game and stuff. And we talked to the coaches, we met the coaches right when we got there, Coach Santucci, and hung out with him after. It meant a lot for him to come sit down and talk to us after the game for as long as he did, because they just came off a hard game. So it meant a lot, just how much I mean to him for him to sit down with my family and talk to me after after that game.” 

Texas A&M entered Pierce’s recruitment relatively late compared to other in-state programs, but have quickly made up ground because of his relationship with linebackers coach Tyler Santucci. 

“From the day I met him, I mean, he’s been one of my most favorite coaches I’ve talked to out of any coach,” he said. “I mean, he’s been great. I think he’s very knowledgeable about things and he’s pretty young too, which is always good to have. I really feel like I connect with him a lot and I think he can develop linebackers pretty well, just from talking to him and knowing about their program and the guys that they have coming in and committing and the guys they have right now in the room.” 

While in town, the four-star spent extensive time with Santucci and the staff and learned a lot about the program. 

“There was a lot,” he said of the highlights of his trip. “Just how I fit into their program, how much I mean to them as a recruit. Just the whole trip, I got to see what kind of resources they have at A&M and how it compares to other places and how unbelievable it is.” 

The biggest highlight of the trip was seeing a packed out Kyle Field under the lights. 

“I mean that was unbelievable,” he said. “It’s probably the best atmosphere I’ve been to in a game yet and it was a great game and a crazy atmosphere but I wouldn’t even say it was big in the college football world like rankings wise, but it was still one of the most electric games I’ve been to.” 

The four-star made it back back to College Station just last weekend to see the Aggies take on LSU and will likely return to College Station early in the spring.

Pierce ranks as the No. 107 prospect and No. 11 linebacker in the country per the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. The four-star has an On3 NIL Valuation of $65K. 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.