Top five for Pierre Aka
Indianapolis (Ind.) Pike defensive end Pierre Aka has put a lot of thought into his recruitment the last couple months, trying to determine where his strongest interests lie and which schools he will visit. Last week, the 6-4, 265-pound Aka settled on his top five schools.
"I narrowed it down to five and still have five others I am looking at," Aka said. "The top five is Northwestern, Iowa State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Purdue. The schools I am still thinking about are Utah, Northern Illinois, Boston College, Michigan State and Indiana."
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The one underlying theme uniting each of the schools at the top of Aka's list is academics. The Indianapolis native values academics above all other factors when deciding a school, and sees each of these five as being able to meet his academic goals.
Less important, but still on the list, is what position Aka is being recruited for. Some schools see him on the defensive line, while others are considering him for tight end.
"I'd rather play defensive line," Aka said. "I know Purdue and Northwestern want me [at defensive end]. Iowa State does not know yet, and Minnesota wants me to play tight end."
Long term, Aka would like to have his final decision wrapped up by December. Between now and then he will take several official and unofficial visits. No official visits have been set yet, but he has planned out a couple game day visits in the next few months.
"I am going on an unofficial to Northwestern for their game against Michigan," Aka said. "I will probably head out to see Iowa State play Texas, but I don't know yet."
In the meantime, Aka will continue to help lead Pike High. He has made the move down to defensive tackle and offensive tackle in order to meet his team's needs. In two games he has recorded seven tackles, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble on defense.