Jon Pierce finally felt complete.

After suffering a torn ACL and attending five high schools, two colleges and a prep school, his collegiate career finally came full-circle last Tuesday with one free throw.

As he stepped to the line and cashed in the front-end of two free throws, a lifetime of adversity, change and perseverance paid off. Pierce became Tufts’ all-time leading scorer.

‘It has been a journey, certainly,’ Pierce, now a senior, said. ‘Watching that free throw go in and knowing right then I had set that record meant a lot to me because of all the work and dedication I went through.’

With that free throw, Pierce notched his 1,786th career point at Tufts. He moved past Greg Davis as the all-time leading scorer in the school’s 106-year history of basketball. Davis’ record stood for almost 24 seasons.

Though this feat was a major accomplishment, for Pierce, considering all that he has been through, it represents much more.

Adopted at birth, Pierce shuffled around from family to family. When Pierce’s adoptive parents divorced, he stayed with his adoptive mother. She began to abuse him – both physically and psychologically, Pierce said – and he left her care at age 13. Pierce then moved around to and from several foster homes and family members.

He ultimately settled down with distant relatives in Indiana. The father was in the army, so Pierce moved around quite a bit. He attended five different high schools.

As a high school sophomore, Pierce was recruited by Purdue, Indiana and several other Big Ten programs. But his collegiate aspirations took a hit when he tore his ACL. As a result, he never fully regained the explosiveness that his ‘above the rim’ game relied on.

After developing his outside game to counter his inability to explode and slash as he used to, Pierce decided at first to play Division III-ball at Wabash College in Indiana.

‘Division I is a dream for a high schooler, and letting go of that was really hard to do,’ Pierce said. ‘It took a long time to set in and was really difficult to realize that I was not going to be the same player.’

Pierce, though, was not completely satisfied with abandoning his dream to play at a higher level. He took the advice of his AAU coach and decided to do a post-graduate year at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire instead.

The time at Exeter was exactly what Pierce needed.

‘The post-grad year was a turning point in my life athletically, personally and academically,’ Pierce said. ‘I played for an amazing coach and really grew into myself as a person and player. Without that year I would not be in my current position today.’

After a year at the Academy, Pierce enrolled at Drew University with hopes of finally playing basketball at the next level. Things did not work out at Drew, so Pierce transferred to Tufts, where he found a permanent home.

‘As a person Jon has really grown up, and seeing that has been rewarding,’ Tufts head coach Bob Sheldon said. ‘He has been through a lot on a personal level, so I tried to be here for him for four years and be a male role model for him.’

Yet even with everything he had been through, once he got to Tufts one more roadblock stood in his way.

‘It came down to him and another guy,’ Sheldon said. ‘The other guy had already committed, so we had to tell Jon it wasn’t going to work. That kid actually ended up backing out, so we laugh about that now.’

After a year away from competitive basketball, Pierce realized just how important to him the sport was. It made him appreciate the privilege to play a college sport, even if it was not at the level he originally planned for.

He has been the Jumbos’ go-to scorer for four seasons and over his career has averaged 19.4 points. In the future, Pierce plans to go to law school, but for now, he hopes to continue a basketball career that has been through a lot.

‘I plan on going to Europe and playing for a year or so,’ Pierce said. ‘But for now I am just trying to enjoy everything and have fun. I had to go through a lot of trial-by-fire as a young man, so it is nice to just enjoy everything now.’

No. 12 Tennessee at No. 22 Vanderbilt

Tuesday, 7 p.m., ESPN

The teams are deadlocked in second place in the SEC, as each stands at 6-2 in the conference. Bruce Pearl always has his team fired up, as the Volunteers look to avenge a nine-point loss to Vandy from two weeks ago.

Vanderbilt 83, Tennessee 81

No. 6 Purdue at No. 10 Michigan State

Tuesday, 9 p.m., ESPN

After a tough loss to Northwestern, Purdue has rattled off five straight wins and sits at 7-3 in the Big Ten. Michigan State, on the other hand, has lost two straight games to Wisconsin and Illinois. Spartans leading scorer Kalin Lucas is still day-to-day with an injured ankle.

Michigan State 74, Purdue 69

Connecticut at No. 2 Syracuse

Wednesday, 7 p.m., ESPN

After losing three straight Big East games to Providence, Marquette and Louisville, the Huskies snuck by DePaul. They will have to knock off the Orange to even think about getting in the NCAA Tournament.

Syracuse 84, Connecticut 78

No. 15 New Mexico at No. 23 UNLV

Wednesday, 11 p.m.

New Mexico and UNLV are knotted with BYU in a three-way tie for first place in the Mountain West. UNLV knocked off the Lobos earlier this season and is coming off an impressive 14-point win against No. 17 BYU.

UNLV 74, New Mexico 70

No. 5 West Virginia at No. 25 Pittsburgh

Friday, 9 p.m., ESPN

West Virginia blew out the Panthers by 19 just a week ago in Morgantown. Pittsburgh will need Gary McGhee to contain Da’Sean Butler and Kevin Jones in the frontcourt. This time, however, Pittsburgh won’t have to worry about getting hit by any debris falling from the stands.

Pittsburgh 70, West Virginia 66

restern@syr.edu