Justin Pierce just moved to Seattle with his longtime girlfriend, Victoria. With a degree in finance from William & Mary and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Pierce is ready to enter the corporate finance space after retiring from professional basketball.
The 6'7" forward grew up in a competitive household. Pierce's parents attended Northwestern; his father played football, and his mother played volleyball. Justin was always active with his parents and brothers Alec, currently a wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts, and Caden, who plays basketball at Princeton. They always pushed each other to improve and valued their time together.
While his family was super competitive with sports, they valued education.
William & Mary
Pierce started his collegiate career at William & Mary. His family considered education critical, and he wanted college paid for by earning a scholarship. "William & Mary ended up being that perfect fit. We got really lucky. It is such a good school, and it ended up being a full scholarship," Pierce said.
The forward only played 10.7 minutes per contest as a freshman. He wasn't heavily recruited out of high school because he was young for his grade and wasn't physically at the level of other guys his age, but he physically got stronger and matured a lot after his first year.
"I took a huge jump my sophom*ore year. I started and had an all-conference season and continued that into my junior year," exclaimed Pierce. As a sophom*ore, he averaged 14.7 points and 8.6 rebounds and followed it up with 14.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 4.1 assists as a junior.
While Pierce had success on the court, he excelled in the classroom. With a fair amount of AP credits from high school, Pierce was on pace to graduate with his undergraduate degree in three years.
After his junior year, his coach got fired, and many of his teammates were transferring, so he decided to enter the transfer portal as a graduate. Pierce had the opportunity to earn his Master's degree under a college scholarship.
North Carolina
Pierce was highly sought after in the portal due to his success at William & Mary. He committed to North Carolina over Michigan and Notre Dame. "Being a kid from Chicago, it blew me away. The coaches are fantastic, and you walk into the gym and see Michael Jordan's jersey up in the rafters," he said on his commitment.
The forward stated that it was not a typical North Carolina season. They struggled, going 14-19(6-14, 13th in the Atlantic Coast Conference), and had several key injuries. Covid-19 ended the college basketball season, but North Carolina was not in contention for the NCAA Tournament.
Pierce established himself in a veteran role off the bench for coach Roy Williams. It was a year of challenge and growth for him. He grew as a player, learned a lot from the coaches, and made lifelong friendships with his teammates.
The Chicago native earned an MBA, and his year at North Carolina prepared him for his career overseas.
Is a professional career possible?
Pierce focused on academics after receiving minimal playing time at William & Mary as a freshman. He didn't know if the NBA or other avenues of continuing his basketball career were possible, but NBA scouts attended his practices and games to watch him and his teammate Nathan Knight when they were sophom*ores.
With scouts in attendance, Pierce kept his head down and continued to work on and off the court because the dream of playing professional basketball became a reality.
After a solid final two seasons at William & Mary, followed by a year in the national spotlight at North Carolina, Pierce saw that continuing his basketball career was possible, just not in the NBA.
Some of his former teammates from William & Mary signed overseas, and he became interested in the leagues they were playing in and spoke to them about it.
After signing with an agent, Pierce signed with Kobrat Basketballof the Korisliiga League in Finland.
Professional Career
Pierce was fortunate to get a contract and play in 2020-2021 due to Covid-19. There was no NBA Summer League, the G League was a shortened season, European leagues were on and off, and some countries didn't bring in American imports due to restrictions.
"The league went on because Finland had one of the lowest Covid rates. It was a comfortable situation for me to start my overseas life. The team was fantastic to me, and everyone spoke English," Pierce said.
In Finland, he averaged 16.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 16 games. The overseas professional didn't want to put pressure on himself and would take his pro career year by year as long as he was having fun with it.
He started in Germany's Pro A, the second division in Germany, his second year abroad. Pierce stated he had a strong preseason for the VfL Kirchheim Knights, but they lost their first three games, and the club released all of the Americans.
Getting cut after three games was his first wake-up call about the negative stories you hear about overseas basketball. Pierce remained in the league on a month-by-month contract as an injury replacement with the Wiha Panthers Schwenninge. He got to play with his best friend, David Cohn, his teammate and point guard at William & Mary.
Playing for two months with his best friend was a dream come true. During those two months, Pierce's agent worked on finding him a permanent place to play. In seven games for the Wiha Panthers Schwenninge, he averaged 16.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and shot 46.2% from three.
After two months in Germany, Pierce returned to Finland to play for BC Nokia. He played for Greg Gibson, an American coach who Pierce credits for revitalizing his career overseas. Pierce finished the rest of 2021-2022 season strong, and his coach helped him land his next job in Montenegro for KK Mornar, a top club in the Adriatic League and other international competitions including the Basketball Champions League.
"On paper, it was a great job in Montenegro in the Adriatic League, a very high-level league. You're playing two EuroLeague teams and two EuroCup teams, and Mornar, who I signed with, was one year removed from the (Basketball) Champions League. Adriatic fans love their basketball. I was living on the coast of Bar, Montenegro, but long story short, my club still hasn't paid me," Pierce spoke about his time in Montenegro.
Pierce spent about three months in Montenegro, appearing in 10 games for KK Mornar and left the club. He would spend the rest of the 2022-2023 training, but after this negative experience, Pierce was done playing in Europe.
Pierce was considering retirement after his experiences in Germany and Montenegro, but former teammates told him to give Japan a shot. He signed with Veertien Mie of the Japanese B3 League for the 2023-2024 season.
"Looking back I'm glad I did that year in Japan. If I can give any recommendation to anyone that gets an offer to play in Japanese league offer, take it," Pierce emphasized.
He enjoyed living in Japan, embraced the culture, and was cared for on and off the court. Pierce loved the country and had fun again with basketball.
It was a clarifying year for him because he knew this would be his last year playing professional basketball.
The Next Chapter
Three years in Europe and a year in Japan was enough for Pierce as he reflected on his basketball career.
His sophom*ore year at William & Mary and senior night at North Carolina are some of his fondest memories of how far he's come and what he's achieved. From mid-major to the national spotlight at North Carolina to playing professionally overseas, Pierce proved that he belonged by doing all the little things and doing them well.
While he's done playing professional basketball overseas, he has an opportunity to play in the FIBA 3x3 basketball leagues in the United States.
While Pierce prepares to join the workforce in Seattle, he reiterated that basketball will always be part of his life.
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