Previously: Last year’s profiles, K Adam Samaha, K James Turner (Tr), S Brandyn Hillman, CB DJ Waller, CB Cameron Calhoun, CB Jyaire Hill, HSP/LB Jason Hewlett, LB Hayden Moore, LB Semaj Bridgeman, LB Ernest Hausmann (Tr), OLB Breeon Ishmail, DE Aymeric Koumba, DE Enow Etta, DE Josaiah Stewart (Tr), DT Brooks Bahr, DT Cameron Brandt Chicago (Brother Rice), IL – 6'3"/285 247: 6'3/290 3.87* 3*, 89, NR overall #61 DL, #7 IL On3: 6'3/290 3.84* 3*, 88, NR overall #61 DL, #7 IL Rivals: 6'3/285 4.07* 4*, 5.8, NR overall #19 DT, #6 IL ESPN: 6'3/270 3.68* 3*, 77, #65 MW #50 DT, #12 IL Composite 3.83* 3*, #565/#514 Ovr #61/#53 DL, #9/#7 IL MGoAverage 3.88* 3.5*, #466/789 Ovr #40/69 DTs since '90 YMRMFSPA Ryan Glasgow Other Suitors Illinois, UW (decommit), Texas Previously On MGoBlog Hello by yours truly. Notes Full name Roderick Pierce III Film: Senior Highlights: Junior Highlights: Hudl. BadgerBlitz highlights. Extra game clips. Interview w On3. Vs Luke Hamilton in camp. I am not saying that Michigan's 2023 entire class was engaged in a clandestine game of recruiting ratings curling where the goal was to see who could get as close to 4 stars as possible without tripping over the line and disqualifying oneself for MGoBlog Sleeper of the Year, but if it was there would be several candidates who added just a bit too much polish at the end. That especially holds for Trey Pierce, who entered his 2022 season a good thousand spots away from the nearest 4-star, but put so much momentum on that sucker it carried him past four other 4-star DTs to one site. He came really close, but this former Wisconsin commit must have lost some concentration when Wisconsin fired Paul Chryst. Suddenly Pierce and his friend/nose compatriot Jamel Howard were back on the market. Michigan leapt in along with a host of others who joined an Illinois staff that had been furiously trying to pry him loose the whole time. Pierce was enough of a priority in Ann Arbor that Harbaugh himself moved in for the final There was a quick flash of a second recruitment that threatened to go national before Illinois lost its DC to the Purdue job, Michigan fended off Texas, and Pierce signed in December. Michigan tried to get Howard as well but he held off, New Wisconsin made their pitch, and managed to break up the pair. The flurry last December, and the way Pierce and Howard were tied at the hip, makes for an odd review now. Pierce was supposed to be the 3-tech with a hot first step while Howard was the 320-pound obvious nose. Now Pierce is the nose of our class. [After THE JUMP: Big, explosive, and ready to play, unless he's none of those things.]