By: Katie Zigelman, News Staff
Freshman forward/center Ryan Pierson was named to the all-conference men’s basketball rookie team last Thursday. He is Northeastern’s first all-rookie selection since senior Chaisson Allen four years ago. Pierson’s performance this past season has earned him Huntington News Player of the Week honors.
“It felt great to be able to represent the school in a positive way,” Pierson said.
The St. Louis, Mo., native made the transition from playing basketball at Christian Brothers College High School to playing at the Division I level at Northeastern.
“Everyone’s bigger now,” Pierson said.
At 6 feet, 10 inches and 235 pounds, Pierson fits in with all the “bigger” guys. He played 30 out of 31 games this season, started 28 of them and scored 225 points. He is ranked fourth among the Colonial Athletic Association rookies in both average points per game (7.5) and average rebounds per game (3.7). Pierson also had 14 blocks and ten steals this season.
Pierson made official visits with Ball State University, Detroit University and Austin Peay State University. He said he chose Northeastern because of his close connection with the coaching staff and the team.
Pierson’s biggest highlight of the season was beating Virginia Commonwealth 91-80 on Feb. 2. He contributed six points, two assists and five rebounds to this game.
“We started off with a bad streak but ended up pulling together and beating three conference champions and VCU,” Pierson said. “It was great for us to learn from this experience and next year we will be stronger because of it.”
Pierson comes from a basketball-loving family and has been playing basketball for so long that he does not remember when he first started.
His father played in college and his sister lettered in basketball at Iowa State and DePaul after being an All-American in high school. While basketball has always been Pierson’s sport of choice, he also played soccer and baseball in grade school.
These days, he doesn’t have much free time to devote to other sports.
“There is really no time to be spent outside of basketball and school,” he said.
In the small amount of spare time that Pierson does get, he enjoys listening to music, watching television and playing Call of Duty.
Pierson is a communication studies major, and after graduation he wants to play out his career and then become a coach. However, before that happens he still has a number of years on the team. By the end of his tenure as a Husky, he said, he hopes to win the CAA conference and make it to the NCAA tournament.
