Punishing Fla. DB Alfonzo Allen Visits Arizona State, Commits While on Campus

Arizona State offered Alfonzo Allen a scholarship nearly two years ago, also the amount of time it took the south Floridian football prospect to make it to campus for a visit.

While in Tempe on Saturday, visiting with his mother and Hallandale (Fla.) High School teammates, the junior announced his verbal commitment to the Pac-12 program via Instagram.

"I'm headed to Arizona State," Allen told SI All-American. "The coaches made me feel like a top priority, they have a good coaching staff with NFL experience. They built a bond with my mom, built a bond with my friends and built a bond with my family.

"I felt like it was a family situation and I was ready."

Allen joins fellow Hallandale Charger Jaylin Marshall, who picked the program just last month, on the Sun Devil commitment list. The fellow junior was on the trip with him over the weekend, too.

"Me and Jaylin are real close," he said. "He doesn't really go into detail about Arizona State, but how we all are -- we're all so close that we want to stay with each other and play with each other."

From head coach Herm Edwards to the assistants, the program is selling lofty goals to the newest commitment and safety projection.

"They see me being able to be a leader on the field with my range, how I could cover ground, and with my physicality," Allen said. "With them adding Coach (Chris) Hawkins to the defensive staff and Coach AP (Antonio Pierce) as the D.C., and them bring in dogs like me and Jaylin as well, we can make a push in the Pac-12. We can help them put some dogs in the league on defense just like the offense did in the last couple of years.

"Coach Edwards is a great dude. I've had conversations with him on the phone and on Twitter about faith and how we're going to change the program. We'll help them bring in a Pac-12 championship, win a Rose Bowl and get a degree."

Pac-12 programs haven't been shy about recruiting the fertile recruiting grounds of the Sunshine State before, but with less familiarity before college thanks to pandemic-related recruiting restrictions the cross-country trek will be a popular topic for Allen back in south Florida.

The rising-senior isn't worried about long distance at this time. In fact, it is part of the reason he elected to commit to the program 2,300-plus miles away from his high school.

"In order to live in life, you have to be uncomfortable to be comfortable," Allen said. "So I'm not worried about being homesick or nothing. I've always wanted to travel and help my family, so now I have the chance to start doing that. My mom is okay with it, she wants me to do something different. I'm going to be the first in my family to actually go to a big college. As long as I get my degree and I finish, it didn't matter how far away from home I went.

"My teammates are gonna be here, my coaches are gonna make sure I'm okay, the school is good and I'll make sure I get my degree in three years."

Selecting ASU over nearly four dozen other options, Allen is the fourth pledge for Edwards and the ASU program in the 2022 cycle. Another coveted Sun Devil target and Hallandale defender, Eric Weldon, is also on the unofficial trip with the newest Pac-12 commitment. At this time the committed teammates don't plan to push Weldon on making an early decision like they did.

Allen plans on graduating high school in December and enrolling at Arizona State in January.

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