Recruiting experts thought Desert Mountain (Ariz.) quarterback Kyle Allen was going to be deciding between UCLA, Notre Dame and Ohio State. On Monday afternoon, he made an announcement that took some by surprise.
"I will be playing my college football for Coach Sumlin at TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY!! GIG EM!!" Allen tweeted.
Pleased with the choice? Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin, who can't technically comment on recruits until they sign a National Letter of Intent, sent out a conspicuous tweet about the same time Allen announced his decision.
YESSIR! — Kevin Sumlin (@CoachSumlin) June 3, 2013
Since Sumlin left Houston to take over the top job at A&M in December 2011, everything has been coming up Aggie. Consider:
- In their first SEC season, they went 6-2 in the league and toppled Alabama on the road, which knocked the Tide (temporarily) from the No. 1 spot in the polls.
- Redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel earned the nickname Johnny Football, won the Heisman and was featured in roughly a gazillion blog posts documenting his exploits both on and off the field.
- They beat down old foe Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, 41-13.
- Pulled in Rivals’ eleventh-ranked recruiting class last year, and currently sit at number one for the Class of 2014.
- Announced some very impressive stadium renovations.
- Watched tackle Luke Joeckel go second overall in April’s NFL draft.
And now they’ve got Allen lined up as the heir apparent for whenever Manziel decides to test the waters of the NFL. (The reigning Heisman champ could leave after the 2013 season, but would have two years of eligibility remaining if he chose to stay.) Manziel was happy to hear the news on Allen:
Congrats brother welcome to the family @kyleallen_10 #gigem
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) June 3, 2013
Rivals’ top pro-style quarterback and 27th player overall, Allen visited College Station for A&M’s spring game (conveniently played at Kyle Field) and is scheduled to attend Rivals’ Five-Star Challenge in Chicago this weekend. He was supposed to linger in the Midwest for visits to South Bend and Columbus, but it seems like a safe bet to say those trips are canceled.
The top quarterback’s commitment also might help Sumlin in his pursuit of four-star wide receiver Mark Andrews, who just happens to already have a really good rapport with the newest Aggie commit: Allen and Andrews are high school teammates in Scottsdale.
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