'Cali Vibe' draws Elijah Juarez to ASU

There was never a scarcity of reasons to attract Elijah Juarez to the Sun Devils, but the decision by the Long Beach (Calif.) Poly High School athlete to pledge to Arizona State was one that he only reached very recently.

Juarez received an offer from Utah last Thursday and promptly headed the next day to Salt Lake City for an official trip. Sources have informed Devils Digest that he was essentially a silent commit to the Utes and was scheduled to announce his intentions publicly on Wednesday’s signing day.

Yet, whether it was his former head coach, Antonio Pierce, a handful of high school teammates part of the ASU program or having family in the Phoenix area, Juarez realized that he needed to go to where his heart was calling him.

Yes, the plan to announce his commitment today still stood, but the pledge was ultimately given to the Sun Devils.

Here’s Juarez on the far left following his commitment ceremony.

“That Cali Vibe Arizona State has is very similar to here,” Juarez said. “I visited unofficially there two months ago and it felt like home. The facilities and campus are overall super nice. I really wanted to have the best college experience and just overall, I know it’s the best choice for me. I know if I work hard, I have a chance to play as a true freshman. So I’m excited about that.

“I know the coaches, I have teammates that are already playing there and some are going out there too. I have some family out there. So I really like the people there.”

Juarez will be heading to Tempe with his Jackrabbit teammates from this previous year twin brothers Kejuan and Keon Markham, and a lot of the advice he received on attending ASU came from his teammates from two years ago Aashari Croswell and Jermayne Lole who played as true freshmen for ASU in 2018.

“They told me that they love it there,” Juarez commented, “and said that they couldn’t see themselves anywhere else but ASU. They told me that it has been a great experience for them. I don’t want to say that I want to follow in their footsteps, but because they cam3 from my same school I want to have the same experience they are having now.”

Juarez is naturally more than happy to reunite with Pierce, and since Juarez will line up at linebacker for Arizona State Pierce, his former head coach will now serve as his position coach.

“He’s a great guy,” Juarez described, “and I know we can build even a stronger relationship at Arizona State. He was hyped up for me when I said I’m coming there. I know he can develop me as a person and a player. Coach Pierce likes to get things done.”

Juarez played mainly linebacker as a junior and tallied 37 tackles and seven tackles for loss that year. Thin numbers at running back the following year had him playing most of that campaign on the other side of the ball where he posted 728 rushing yards and ten touchdowns in eight games.

“I definitely wanted to play linebacker in college,” Juarez noted, “because that’s where I’m more comfortable with and that’s where I really enjoy playing. I’m physical, I love to hit but I’m also pretty quick for how big I am. That’s going to be a plus or me at the next level. I really like this (ASU) defense because everybody is hungry and is having fun with it. Everybody competes hard there.”

Juarez admitted that it was hard to change his mind and turn down Utah in favor of ASU, but that he was resolute to make that decision yesterday.

“I knew I liked ASU from the start,” Juarez said, “and it’s always been my dream school. Today was a crazy day, but when I went to sleep last night I knew I was going to be a Sun Devil.”