Brandon Pierce



Brandon Pierce, a wide receiver from College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California, is set to join Arizona State's program as a scholarship addition on Thursday as the Sun Devils attempt to bolster their depth at the position.

"My flight is going to be booked in the next hour or so and I will be out there at ASU tomorrow morning," Pierce said. "I'm leaving at 8 a.m. It's beyond exciting. I've been waiting two years for it and just working hard so I can't wait to get up there and start working with the team.

"It was difficult but I persevered, I made it through and that's all that matters. So I'm ready to get out there and just start working as a Sun Devil."

Pierce, 5-foot-11 and 167 pounds, is expected to be immediately eligible with two seasons to play. He received a medical redshirt at San Jose State in 2016 before playing for the Cougars in 2017 and 2018.

Known for his electric speed, Pierce claims to have run a laser-time of 4.31 seconds in the 40-yard dash before the 2018 season, in which he caught 47 balls for 801 yards and seven touchdowns.

Pierce was initially offered a scholarship by the Sun Devils in May but it was conditional on his academic situation being resolved. He needed to meet NCAA-mandated progress toward degree requirements that weren't completed until this week. He said 15 colleges offered a scholarship in total throughout his recruitment, including Pac-12 South teams Arizona and Utah.

"They were just waiting on me to square up my school things and all of that and then once my teachers put all of my summer grades in and completed my transcripts they let me know I was good to go," Pierce said of ASU. "That just happened today. Everything was confirmed today that I was accepted at ASU."

Pierce will provide depth at a position group that looks a bit thin entering the season, particularly after senior John Humphrey Jr. announced his intent to transfer earlier this week. Redshirt freshman Geordon Porter will miss at least the first game of the season with a hamstring strain, leaving freshmen Jordan Kerley and Ricky Pearsall as two of the top backups at the outside wide receiver positions.

The last time ASU coaches looked for a late-addition junior college wide receiver it yielded Tim White in April of 2015 also out of College of the Canyons. White became a successful player for the Sun Devils with 113 receptions in two seasons and is currently a return specialist for the New York Jets.

Earlier in his recruitment, Pierce took official visits to Indiana, Toledo, UNLV and UTSA.

Pierce eventually came to the conclusion that he was selling himself short by signing with a lower-level Division I prospect. Now he's going to play for the Sun Devils at the Power 5 level.

A graduate of Bishop Alemany High School in Los Angeles, Pierce left San Jose State after one season due in part to what he said was ineffective treatment over an injury to his ribs. Recruited as an athlete, Pierce worked primarily at defensive back as a redshirt freshman at College of the Canyons in 2017 until switching to wide receiver exclusively in the team's final three games, the position he also played in 2018 and will continue to as a Sun Devil.