Florida linebacker Thomas Allen announced via Twitter on Wednesday morning he has committed to play football at IU.
“I was born a Hoosier, now I am officially choosing to become one. I am blessed to be committing to the Indiana University!” the linebacker said on his Twitter account.
In addition to tweeting his commitment, Allen also added “Indiana Football Commit” to his biography on the social media account, and he changed his avatar to an animated photo of him in an IU uniform.
Allen is the son of current IU defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who joined the staff in January after leaving a similar role in South Florida. Two weeks after signing the defensive coordinator, IU offered the younger Allen a scholarship to play in Bloomington.
According to 247Sports.com, Allen is the No. 78 inside linebacker in the country, and the Tampa, Florida, native becomes the fourth IU commit for the class of 2017.
IU was one of nine offers Allen received, including offers from South Florida, Rutgers and Southern Mississippi.
The Plant High School linebacker joins a linebacking core that will likely return two of its four 2015 starters by the time he joins the roster in 2017. Juniors Tegray Scales and Marcus Oliver helped the Hoosiers reach their first bowl game since 2007 and will be seniors when Allen is a freshman.
Taylor Lehman
