St. Thomas More DL Brian Allen Jr. commits to Illinois football

Three-star defensive lineman Brian Allen Jr. announced his commitment to the Illinois football program on Monday afternoon. Allen is a senior at St. Thomas More in Oakdale, Connecticut, but he’s a native of Woodstock, Illinois.

Allen narrowed his recruitment down to Illinois and Iowa, but the three-star chose the home state Fighting Illini.

Beyond blessed thank God!!!🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/bZZn7lxFAo

— Brian Allen Jr (@BrianAllenJr21_) August 23, 2021

The 6-foot-3, 255-pound defensive lineman picked up his first D-I offer in October of 2020, but the bulk of his Power Five offers came in June after an impressive camp performance at North Central College.

Illinois offered Allen on June 9, followed by Purdue, Kansas, Virginia Tech and Iowa. Official visits to Champaign County and Iowa City in June were all he needed to make the call for Illinois.

Allen is commitment No. 16 for Bret Bielema’s 2022 recruiting class and the ninth native of the state of Illinois. Nine is the most for the program since the 2017 class.

He joins Oswego (Ill.) East outside linebacker commit Jared Badie and Joliet (Ill.) Catholic linebacker commit Malachi Hood on the defensive side of the ball.

Brian Allen Jr. On3 Analysis

New Illinois defensive line commit Brian Allen Jr. had a very limited 2020 season, which slowed down his recruitment a bit until this summer. His highlight tape includes just two games, but is impressive nonetheless with five sacks (one strip sack), four tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery.

Allen displays a lot of his explosiveness and strength as he drives offensive linemen right back into the lap of the opposing quarterback. He’s added almost 30 pounds of good weight in the last year. He now looks like he could be a more versatile option for Illinois either on the edge or on the inside in a couple years.

WATCH: Brian Allen Jr. Junior Highlights