DT Allen on board with WVU
West Virginia surged to the front of the pack after offering Paintsville (Ky.) defensive lineman Tyrese Allen and the Mountaineers cemented themselves there by securing his commitment Tuesday afternoon at an announcement at his high school.
Allen, 6-foot-3, 290-pounds, selected the Mountaineers over a number of other scholarship offers including Purdue, Cincinnati, Western Kentucky, Marshall, Memphis, Appalachian State and Kent State. He also was receiving interest from several more schools such as Louisville and Kentucky.
West Virginia became the first power five school to offer Allen around a week after he made it to campus for the junior day in February and from then on was the clear favorite in his recruitment.
“I’ve known about West Virginia for a long time and I’ve always liked their program. It’s hard-nose, down-hill and that’s how I like to play,” he said.
The Rivals.com three-star prospect was recruited by defensive line coach Bruce Tall and is being targeted to fill the defensive tackle position in the 3-3-5 scheme.
He finished last season with 60 tackles and four forced fumbles and attracted the attention of colleges due to his quickness off the ball, hand placement and strength on the interior of the defensive line.
Allen made his first visit to campus for the junior day event in February and was able to get a complete look at the program as well as the facilities. He returned over the weekend for an unofficial visit for the West Virginia Gold-Blue game leading up to his announcement at his high school.
“The facilities were some of the best I’ve ever seen. I just like their coaching staff. For the limited time I got to spend with coach Tall I could tell he was a good man,” Allen said.
The Bluegrass State product also made visits to a large number of other programs this spring as he narrowed down his list of suitors including Louisville, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Western Kentucky and several more.
Allen becomes the second commitment for West Virginia in the 2018 class joining Bethel Park (Pa.) defensive tackle James Gmiter on the defensive front in the class.
WVSports.com will have more with Allen in the near future.