[2024] Indiana Recruiting Focus Pays Off with Three New Commitments

[Piercewise1]

(BLOOMINGTON, IND) The Hoosiers doubled the size of their fledgling 2025 recruiting class this week, as 3 new high school seniors committed to the program.

The biggest highlight was 5-star OLB Douglas Downey from Mississippi, who was rumored to be split between IU and BYU. In the end, a late push from @Piercewise1 convinced the young linebacker to come to Bloomington.

“With [starting OLBs] Marquez and Aquino both graduating this year, we had a huge need to sign a difference-maker at linebacker,” Pierce said in a brief statement after the decision was announced. “But with that need comes with an opportunity for immediate playing time, and I think that was very appealing to Douglas.”

Downey becomes the fourth 5-star recruit (and first on defense) to sign with Indiana in Pierce’s tenure, joining C Timothy Doak (recruited in 2022) and WR J.J. Pilaf and OT Fernando Rodriguez (in 2023). Indiana also accepted commitments from 4-star recruits Frank Pineda (a WR from California) and Randall Milan (a local QB from Gas City).  

“We made a big push for Pineda early, and he developed a good rapport with a few of our scouts, Pierce said. “We think he’s got the measurables to play right away, and the heart to really push himself to improve.” Receiver is another area where Indiana will be losing multiple starters, with Troy Thomas and converted running back Geoff Alburquerque both graduating at the end of the year. Pineda could be in the mix as a true freshman, alongside Tyler Looney and current freshman J.J. Pilaf.

Milan and IU seem to be a perfect culture fit, with Milan being very vocal about his desire to stay in-state and become a “maximum legend” among its citizens (and its press photographers). While some questioned the pursuit of Milan, citing concerns about his fit in the Pistol scheme or pointing to the longevity of current starter Sam Johnson (a redshirt freshman), Pierce wasn’t worried.

“Recruiting is about looking to the future, always. Every player, every class, has a well-defined window of opportunity before they move on. Johnson could be the next Philip Avila – we’re still gonna recruit his replacement. And the scheme situation doesn’t bother me; Milan will come in and learn the current system – there’s plenty of overlap between what we run now and what he played in. And by the time it’s his turn to run the show, we’ll know what his strengths are and will plan around that. That’s one of the many benefits of having multi-year starters.”

Recruiting has been the cornerstone of Pierce’s program-building since his predecessor was run out of town for failing to attract high-level talent. While the team’s on-field performance has been middling during his brief tenure (a 13-16 record in 2+ years), the arrival of multiple well-ranked recruiting classes has generated excitement on campus and forced even his fiercest detractors to remain patient. And with six blue-chip commitments already, this year’s class could turn out to be his best yet.