Four-star Class of 2024 Lucas Lovejoy linebacker Payton Pierce announced his commitment to play football at Ohio State on Tuesday night. Listed at 6-1 and 225, Pierce is ranked as the No. 15 linebacker in the country and No. 27 overall prospect in the state in his class according to the 247Sports composite.
Pierce is also ranked in the Top 200 for all high school football players in the Class of 2024 in the nation.
Pierce is among the most highly recruited players with 40 offers on his plate, most of which from a Power Five School. According to the 247Sports experts, Ohio State was the favorite to land Pierce. Other offers close to home included TCU, Texas, Baylor, SMU, UNT, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
He played on the varsity team at Allen as a freshman in 2020 before coming to Lovejoy. He was district defensive newcomer of the year last season. The Leopards went 8-4 last fall and 6-1 in district before going to the area round of the playoffs. As a freshman at Allen, Pierce finished with 131 total tackles, 21 for loss, six sacks, six deflections and five forced fumbles.
