Arizona State Champ Ian Pickles Switches Commitment From Texas to USC for This Fall (original) (raw)

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A few months after giving a verbal pledge to Texas, Hamilton High School (Chandler, Ariz.) senior Ian Pickles has flipped his commitment to USC for this upcoming fall.

The switch means that Pickles will continue to swim with his twin brother, Evan Pickles — also a current senior at Hamilton High and Trojans commit — for the foreseeable future.

At Winter Juniors West in December, the freestyle specialist clocked personal-best times in the 50 free (20.33), 100 free (44.06), and 200 free (1:36.36) as he placed 15th, 12th, and 6th in the respective finals. A month earlier, Pickles capped his high school career with an AIA Division I state title in the 100 free (45.45), bouncing back from a broken ankle the year prior.

During long course season, the Swim Neptune standout clocked lifetime bests in all six freestyle distances and finished with Summer Juniors cuts in the 50/100/200 (23.61/51.89/1:54.21).

Pickles was slated to be the third-best freestyler in his class at Texas behind top-five recruits Will Modglin and Nate Germonprez. Now he’s set to be the best 200 freestyler in his class at USC and the Trojans’ second-best freshman sprinter behind Diggory Dillingham (19.52/43.47).

Best SCY times:

Pickles joins his twin brother, Evan, Dillingham, Salvador Goya, Jack Moloney, and Keller Morgan in USC’s recruiting class anticipated to graduate in 2027. In Lea Maurer’s first year as head coach, the Trojans placed fifth at the Pac-12 Championships last month behind Arizona, Stanford, Cal, and Arizona State. Their highest finisher in the 200 free was junior Max Saunders, who placed 14th with a 1:34.51.

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About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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