Four-star OL looks forward to Stanford
Four-star offensive lineman Allen Smith (6-5, 325, 5.05) from Tempe (Ariz.) Corona del Sol is one of the best behemoths still available. Before the holidays Smith visited UCLA and even though Smith had a great time a college decision is still in the future.
“UCLA was just short of perfect,” Smith said. “To date UCLA was my favorite.”
Advertisement
“UCLA doesn’t have quite the academic reputation of Stanford nor do they have the football athletic tradition of Notre Dame,” Smith said. “But it is very close to Stanford academically and UCLA is underrated athletically.”
“UCLA has some of the most outstanding individuals I have ever met,” Smith said. “The basis of my decision will not be name recognition or how many bowl games I win but by the people I will be playing and winning with.”
“Coach (Karl) Dorrell is probably my favorite coach right now,” Smith said. “He has been nothing but honest and up front. I truly buy into Dorrell’s coaching philosophy.”
Smith is very excited about his pending Stanford visit on January 16th.
“What happens on my Stanford will probably help me make up my mind,” Smith said. “My choices are already tied so Stanford will have a huge effect on my decision.”
“Just because my Stanford visit is good,” Smith said. “It doesn’t mean I will go there. But it will give me a benchmark on my other visits.”
“No matter what happens during my Stanford visit,” Smith said. “If Tennessee wants me to visit, I will take the visit.”
“After I take my official visit to Tennessee,” Smith said. “I will take another unofficial visit to South Bend.”
“I will also take an unofficial visit to ASU before I make up my mind,” Smith. “I learned from my UCLA visit that I need two days to research schools. I was only at Notre Dame and ASU for one day,”
The Bruins have another thing going for it. A very close family friend is a professor at UCLA.
Smith is a student-athlete in every sense of the word and is a finalist for the very prestigious Watkins award.
Rivals.com currently ranks Smith as the nation’s number 13 offensive tackle prospect. He moved up two slots since the last rating.
Rivals.com rates him the state of Arizona’s number two prospect at any position and he is a member of Rival.com’s Super West 60 where he landed the West’s number 22 prospect at any position.