Brian Allen Jr. commits to Iowa

Defensive end Brian Allen Jr. is headed to Iowa. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Allen announced his commitment today and will sign a national letter of intent with the Hawkeyes.

A four-star prospect, Allen originally committed to Illinois in August, but then reopened his recruiting in October and had narrowed things down to Iowa and Oregon in recent weeks.

"I'm going to the University of Iowa," Allen told HawkeyeReport.com. "They stuck with me for a long time. Through everything with Illinois and then with Oregon coming into the mix, they've been with me this whole time and I just feel like that's the best place for me."

Originally from the Chicago area, Allen attends prep school at St. Thomas More in Connecticut, but now will be returning to the Midwest for college and plans to enroll at Iowa at semester in January.

"I'm looking forward to getting into a college weight room and working with all my teammates with like-minded goals so we can be as successful as possible," said Allen.

In addition to Iowa, Illinois, and Oregon, Allen also earned scholarship offers from West Virginia, Purdue, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, Kansas, Connecticut, Arkansas State, and several MAC schools during the recruiting process. After a long journey, the four-star prospect is happy to have finally found his college home.

"It's a great feeling of relief," Allen said. "The recruiting process has been stressful, but I'm happy with my decision and now I'm just ready to get to work."

That work will begin in Iowa City on January 18 when spring semester classes start at the University of Iowa.

"It's been a long time coming, so now we're ready to get this in action," said Allen.