by Bill Seals
Given his basketball schedule this winter, Nixa (Mo.) tight end Chase Allen has had to work in official visits wherever he could find time. He’ll do that with Iowa State early next week, taking a non-traditional official visit that will start and end on Monday.
The 6-foot-7, 225-pound Allen has seen his recruiting stock soar in recent weeks, as the three-star recruit has picked up several new offers in addition to the I-State one he collected last month. Among those new suitors is Michigan, which appears to be the school to beat for Allen.
But a number of factors are keeping the Cyclones in this one for Allen, who also has Power-5 offers from the likes of Florida State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Illinois and Indiana.
“I used to live in Ames, so there’s that,” said Allen, the son of former Iowa State assistant coach Terry Allen. “Coach (Alex) Golesh, originally before the new staff got hired, had been recruiting me at Illinois. I took a trip up there in the summer for one of the camps and the old staff offered me a grayshirt deal.
“As soon as Coach Golesh got hired onto the Iowa State staff, I was really excited and thought it was a great hire. I’m glad he and Coach (Matt) Campbell got back together. They’ve been recruiting me for a long time now. I originally had them scheduled for a visit last weekend, but some things happened and I decided to get up to Michigan as soon as possible. Seeing Iowa State was always my plan.”
Allen will take two official visits in the span of three days, starting with a stop at Nebraska late Saturday night following a basketball game. He’ll spend the entire day on Sunday in Lincoln, before driving to Ames on Monday morning. He will be in attendance for the Cyclone men’s basketball Big Monday game against Kansas.
Golesh spent Wednesday evening in Nixa for an in-home visit with Allen, selling the tight end recruit on his potential in the new ISU offense.
“Coach Golesh showed me a nice cut-up on film and it was the first time I got to really sit down and talk football with them, as far as how they see me fitting into the offense,” Allen said. “It’s a position that they’re trying to put me in that really fits my best attributes as a player. That’s very attractive to me.
Encouraged by his visit with Golesh, Allen said he’ll be looking at a number of factors during his official visit to Ames.
“I’m trying to get a better feel for the new staff, meeting some of the newer guys and learning more about the academic side of things,” he said. “I’m planning on going into Engineering and want to get in touch with the academic support people.”
Although ISU figures to get the final official visit for Allen, Michigan will likely get the final word on Tuesday night.
“I’ll be coming home on Tuesday and Coach (Jim) Harbaugh is coming to my basketball game that night,” Allen said. “Sometime next week I should be able to pull the trigger. (Iowa State) was one of the places I really wanted to get out to.”
Given his basketball schedule this winter, Nixa (Mo.) tight end Chase Allen has had to work in official visits wherever he could find time. He’ll do that with Iowa State early next week, taking a non-traditional official visit that will start and end on Monday.
The 6-foot-7, 225-pound Allen has seen his recruiting stock soar in recent weeks, as the three-star recruit has picked up several new offers in addition to the I-State one he collected last month. Among those new suitors is Michigan, which appears to be the school to beat for Allen.
But a number of factors are keeping the Cyclones in this one for Allen, who also has Power-5 offers from the likes of Florida State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Illinois and Indiana.
“I used to live in Ames, so there’s that,” said Allen, the son of former Iowa State assistant coach Terry Allen. “Coach (Alex) Golesh, originally before the new staff got hired, had been recruiting me at Illinois. I took a trip up there in the summer for one of the camps and the old staff offered me a grayshirt deal.
“As soon as Coach Golesh got hired onto the Iowa State staff, I was really excited and thought it was a great hire. I’m glad he and Coach (Matt) Campbell got back together. They’ve been recruiting me for a long time now. I originally had them scheduled for a visit last weekend, but some things happened and I decided to get up to Michigan as soon as possible. Seeing Iowa State was always my plan.”
Allen will take two official visits in the span of three days, starting with a stop at Nebraska late Saturday night following a basketball game. He’ll spend the entire day on Sunday in Lincoln, before driving to Ames on Monday morning. He will be in attendance for the Cyclone men’s basketball Big Monday game against Kansas.
Golesh spent Wednesday evening in Nixa for an in-home visit with Allen, selling the tight end recruit on his potential in the new ISU offense.
“Coach Golesh showed me a nice cut-up on film and it was the first time I got to really sit down and talk football with them, as far as how they see me fitting into the offense,” Allen said. “It’s a position that they’re trying to put me in that really fits my best attributes as a player. That’s very attractive to me.
Encouraged by his visit with Golesh, Allen said he’ll be looking at a number of factors during his official visit to Ames.
“I’m trying to get a better feel for the new staff, meeting some of the newer guys and learning more about the academic side of things,” he said. “I’m planning on going into Engineering and want to get in touch with the academic support people.”
Although ISU figures to get the final official visit for Allen, Michigan will likely get the final word on Tuesday night.
“I’ll be coming home on Tuesday and Coach (Jim) Harbaugh is coming to my basketball game that night,” Allen said. “Sometime next week I should be able to pull the trigger. (Iowa State) was one of the places I really wanted to get out to.”
