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While most high school juniors are currently attempting to just start up their recruitments, four-star safety Braelon Allen has known for some time now that he wanted to be a Badger.
The in-state safety was the first commit in the 2022 class for the Wisconsin Badgers, but today he made the decision to expedite the process and reclassify. The shift allows Allen to join the Badgers this upcoming summer as a 2021 recruit, and will allow him to skip his senior season at Fond Du Lac High School, and instead suit up for Wisconsin early. An excellent student, Allen will be a Badger a year sooner.
Business decision ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/eUaRSGstTh
— Braelon Allen (@BraelonAllen) September 17, 2020
Reclassification is a growing trend across college athletics, as athletes attempt to make their way onto campus as soon as possible to reap the rewards of on campus workouts and training.
Allen is an exciting talent that Wisconsin was able to close on early in the recruiting process over other offers from Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, and Notre Dame. At 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, he is already physically mature for his grade, so the move does make some sense. Add in the fact that he and fellow four-star safety Hunter Wohler are great friends, and the duo could provide a nice lift to the safety position in the coming years with Eric Burrell, Collin Wilder, and Madison Cone all expected to graduate after this upcoming season.
455x5 pic.twitter.com/SkbIjYugJ8
— Braelon Allen (@BraelonAllen) August 17, 2020
In addition to allowing Braelon Allen the opportunity to join the Badgers early, the decision should also bolster Wisconsin’s national recruiting standing for the 2021 class once his profiles on Rivals, ESPN, and 247Sports are updated. As things currently stand the Badgers rank No. 16 nationally according to the 247Sports Composite team rankings, and adding potentially another four-star prospect such as Allen into the class could further help them climb the rankings.
Stay tuned for more news on his decision here at Bucky’s 5th Quarter.