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| Dr. Rob |
In regards to Iowa offering soon to be high school sophomore Brian Allen, I guess my feelings are, well, it depends. On one hand, the kid is obviously a talented multisport athlete.
O-line coaches LOVE wrestlers. He also has some bloodline legitimacy given his older brother being a scholarship football player at Michigan State. While in the Allen’s case it's at different schools, Iowa has historically loved the brother concept. See again the Quast family as well as Hilgenbergs before that. Brian has three years to essentially grow into/develop the physique of a D1 center, so I wouldn't worry about his current weight of 220 lbs.
In the end, it looks like Iowa wants to secure the services of a talented, if unproven, athlete for a future class. While I understand the kid is three seasons removed from college ball, I regard the college game to be so completely a different world from that of high school; I feel he would be just as unproven three years from now. In evaluating Brian, Ferentz and Co. obviously saw enough upside potential, he was worth offering.
Now the downside to this decision, for the most part I think Iowa is relatively safe here. They get a recruit with great overall athletic ability, proven bloodlines, and three years to grow and develop. I fear Brian may be limiting himself here. While attending Iowa on a football scholarship is probably not a bad decision, locking yourself in three years early may not be the BEST decision. Even for football players, there's more to college than football. Various academic programs, social activities, fraternities, living environment, alumni involvement, etc all play into the college experience.
The best advice I received coming out of high school was, if I were to suffer a career ending injury, would I still want to be attending school at my college of choice. If that answer is no, you'll never be happy playing football there. Brian’s older brother, Jack, even with obvious Hawkeye ties, still chose to attend MSU. He probably (hopefully) had well thought out, intelligent reasons for doing so. Let's also keep in mind, kids do occasional unpredictable things like, oh, I don't know, maybe CHANGE THEIR MINDS.
When I was in high school, I accepted a scholarship offer to Nebraska at (at that time) the absurdly early time of late September of my senior year. Keep in mind I grew up in Lincoln, my father worked for the University of Nebraska, and an older brother already attended school there. Most guys in that era waited literally until the week of National Signing Day to announce their decision. And not to build over hyped, meaningless, and obnoxiously rude drama like today. They waited that long because it took them that long to make the damn decision. I wish Brian Allen well. He sounds like a bright, well rounded kid, with an excellent support system. I'm almost 40 years old (damn it, I'm a MAN!) and I change my mind near constantly. Brian's just getting started in high school, would Iowa truly expect him not to change his?
Dr. Rob's Resume'
Former Nebraska Offensive Lineman
1994 Big 8 Athlete Of The Year
Played for the N.Y. Giants
Anesthesiologist at the Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital
The smartest man I know
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