Voice of the Hawkeyes Board

Ah well....onward and upward.

Regarding the depth chart, just wanted to share my own experience real quick. I played about eight different positions in high school, and was being recruited at four (DE, TE, FB and H-Back). When I got to college, our two starting defensive ends were three-year starters and were seniors. The top backup was also a senior. Beyond that, we had a junior, a sophomore, and several other freshmen. On the offensive side of the ball, the depth chart wasn't nearly as appealing, so it was a no-brainer for me to choose defensive end, since I knew I would have a very good shot to start as a sophomore and learn for a year behind one of the best players in school history. For the majority of recruits that I've talked to who mention playing time as being a factor, that's the ideal situation they could walk into at their future school.

I think a lot of this came down to Allen being blown away in Oxford the week before, and all the pieces fitting the puzzle down there, that Iowa really had to have it's best foot forward. And, maybe Iowa did and it just wasn't as appealing to Allen as Ole Miss was. If you send a kid to Disney World one weekend and then to Adventureland the next, do you think he's gonna be overly ecstatic with his trip to Des Moines? Not saying Ole Miss is in a "Disney World" class of college atmospheres, but certain kids just find that right "feel" and know that's where they want to go. I think this happens a lot, and some kids might "sugar coat" there opinions on visits so they don't possibly try and disrespect anyone or seem uncourteous to the university and there staff. I don't think Allen is doing that by any means, but he sure hasn't sugar coated his feelings towards his visit to Iowa. Ultimately, Ole Miss was obviously the place for Allen.