One junior in Illinois that has continued to attract mid-major interest over the past year has been Caden Pierce. Pierce is a 6’5” guard at Glenbard West High School and plays with the Illinois Wolves program. Last season as a sophomore, Pierce averaged 7.2 points, 7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. 

UIC became the first program to offer Pierce last summer and Wisconsin-Milwaukee has also extended an offer to him. When talking about the two schools that have already offered, Pierce said “both programs have fairly new coaching staffs and I like the way they coach and where the programs are headed. I also like that both schools are fairly close to home for me.” As well schools nationwide are interested in the junior including Belmont, Colorado State, Drake, Elon, Santa Clara, Yale, amongst others. 

While the high school season in Illinois still has not started, Pierce has found other ways to continue to work on his game. “With no high school season, I’ve been working out with a few of my high school teammates almost every day and also my trainer,” Pierce mentioned on how he has continued to get on the court. 

Pierce has looked to Tyler Herro to model is game after because he is an “efficient scorer that can do everything offensively.” Pierce is a skilled shooter who shoots the ball at a high level from the perimeter. He has good size at the guard position with some length. As well he has good versatility with his ability to defend both guards and wings, plus he rebounds very well from the guard position. One aspect of his game that he is looking to improve his becoming more of a three-level scorer saying, “particularly getting to the basket and my-mid-range game.” 

Once college coaches are able to see Pierce in person, expect to see his recruitment and offer list really grow.