Four-Star WR enjoys the visit circuit
So much for the downtime the offseason is supposed to bring. For Devon Allen, that's a foreign concept. The Phoenix (Ariz.) Brophy Prep wide receiver spent the summer consumed by travel and campus tours. But for a sought-after four-star recruit, jetlag is simply part of the process - a process he hopes to have complete well before singing day.
The list of colleges Allen has already seen is long. He requires pauses at times to remember, but eventually gets it all out without forgetting a trip. Or so he thinks, anyway. He lists Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, California and Stanford as the schools he visited unofficially this summer.
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Asked which school made the biggest impact during his visit, he's careful with his response. He insists there's no favorite in his recruitment, and it's obvious that he doesn't want his answer to give the wrong impression. Still, he starts down that path anyway.
"Stanford and Notre Dame; you can't really compare the facilities they have," he said. "The atmosphere at Michigan and Ohio State was pretty awesome. I went to the Friday Night Lights at Ohio State, and there were about 5,000 fans on a Friday night at about 10:00. It was pretty cool. I don't really have any favorites, though."
What he does have are official visits. He'll take one to Arkansas on Sept. 15 and is planning to get back to Ohio State as well. A date for his trip to Columbus is tentatively set, but a successful season for Brophy Prep could change that.
"I was planning to go to the Ohio State-Michigan game, but that's the same weekend as the state championship for my high school," Allen said. "We're planning to play in that game, so we'll have to see about that."
His third official visit will be to Texas, but he is yet to schedule a date in that instance.
Ideally, Allen would like to be committed before signing day. Even so, there's no hurry. He sees no shame in taking full advantage of this whole recruiting thing. The way he looks at it, being the No. 4 prospect in Arizona should come with its perks.
"I want to get a few official visits in," he said. "It'll be cool to go out there and experience the whole recruiting process a few times."
More than two dozen schools have extended scholarship offers to Allen. He'd like to run track in addition to playing football in college and says he isn't likely to commit to a program that won't let him do both.
Allen is a standout in both the 200-meter dash and the 110-meter hurdles at the high school level. He recorded more than 1,500 all-purpose yards and scored 21 total touchdowns on the football field last season.
Rivals.com ranks him as the No. 15 wide receiver in the country and the 129th overall prospect in the class of 2013.