Texas Football: 4-Star S target Bryan Allen Jr. picks LSU over Longhorns

A big loss that could’ve been the first pledge in the 2022 Texas football recruiting class came on April 9, with S Bryan Allen Jr. committing to LSU.

There hasn’t been much movement at all on the recruiting trail for the Texas football program and their 2022 class as of late. While a number of finalist lists keep dropping, especially from big-time Texas targets of the 2021 recruiting class, the 2022 cycle is remaining pretty desolate for head coach Tom Herman and co.

More bad news came the way of the Texas Longhorns football program and their 2022 recruiting class on April 9, with the announcement that four-star Aledo safety Bryan Allen Jr. would commit to the LSU Tigers. This 6-foot and 183 pound Aledo, TX, native is a big get for and LSU class that is now making waves in the 2022 recruiting cycle.

The defending National Champions LSU got the news that Allen Jr. would be giving his pledge to their 2022 recruiting class came via his Twitter timeline on Thursday morning. The commitment of Allen Jr. was a bit surprising given other news that was coming about from his other intentions in his recruitment of late.

https://twitter.com/BJThaKid04/status/1248277957501689856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1248277957501689856%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.burntorangenation.com%2F2020%2F4%2F9%2F21215104%2Fbyran-allen-jr-commits-lsu-tigers-texas-longhorns-recruiting-2022

Allen Jr. had quoted a post from Billy Embody of 247Sports on April 7, talking about how he was planning a visit with head coach Sonny Dykes and the SMU Mustangs after the NCAA mandated dead period was over (set to last through May 31).

There were also other tweets that came from Allen Jr. showing edits in what was presumed to be some of his finalist schools. Three of the four edits came of him in the colors of the Oklahoma Sooners, Florida Gators, and the Longhorns. Obviously the fourth was him in an LSU uniform.

https://twitter.com/BJThaKid04/status/1247955604087484416

https://twitter.com/BJThaKid04/status/1247957449904140288

Moreover, there were more than 15 schools that Allen Jr. had on his offer sheet before announcing his commitment to LSU. The latest to offer him was actually SMU, coming on April 6. He also received an offer from the Nebraska Cornhuskers this month, back on April 3.

The last visit that Allen Jr. took prior to his pledge was actually with Texas back on March 7. That was an unofficial visit last month. He also visited head coach Gary Patterson and the TCU Horned Frogs back on March 1.

Other significant schools that Allen Jr. cut prior to arriving at his commitment decision included the Arkansas Razorbacks, Baylor Bears, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Penn State Nittany Lions, Texas A&M Aggies, and USC Trojans. He did also have those aforementioned offers from Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma.

Allen Jr. ranks as the nation’s No. 52 2022 high school prospect, No. 2 safety, and No. 5 prospect out of Texas. He raked in 122 combined tackles, one tackle for loss, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries (including two for touchdowns), and three interceptions during his sophomore season at Aledo.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, LSU now holds four commits in their 2022 recruiting class and has the top ranked group in the nation. Texas still has yet to land their first commit in the 2022 class, as of April 9.