2017 National Signing Day Profile: Thomas Allen

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Thomas Allen, 6’3”, 220 pounds, Tampa, FL (Plant High School), ILB, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 2-star (79.65)

When Tom Allen took over as the defensive coordinator at Indiana, he let Kevin Wilson know that the Hoosiers were under no obligation to recruit his son. He did not want his position on the IU defensive staff to impact the talent evaluation. However, the Hoosiers felt like Thomas Allen, then a senior at Plant High School in Florida, would be a positive addition to their program and they offered him a scholarship. It was a quick recruitment and Thomas Allen’s decision to play for his father was never in doubt and he was thrilled when his father became the new head coach at IU, just a month before he would enroll in Bloomington. 

“When I found out, my jaw dropped,” Thomas told the Tampa Bay Times. “I’m so proud of him. At the end of the day, it’s God’s journey for us. We’re blessed.”

Allen is only ranked as a two-star prospect but he had offers from Rutgers, South Florida and Colorado State and he was the leader of a very successful defense at Plant High School. 

IU’s defense received a big boost when All-American linebacker Tegray Scales decided to return for his senior season and lead the middle of the defense. However, Marcus Oliver opted to enter the NFL Draft and both T.J. Simmons and Dawson Fletcher were seniors in 2016. That left only four linebackers on scholarships and both Scales and Chris Covington will be seniors in 2017. Mike McGinnis and Dameon Willis both have two years of eligibility remaining so Reakwon Jones was the only scholarship linebacker with more than two years left in Bloomington. The Hoosiers needed to restock at linebacker (and they’ll need to do so once again in the next class) and they did just that with Thomas Allen and Mo Burnam.