Rivals250 DE Michael Allen gives Wake an epic commitment

Wake Forest landed a new football commitment this afternoon. The Demon Deacons have been picking up a lot of new commits during the summer, as they added 11 new commitments in June and July.

This commitment is different though. The Deacs just landed their highest rated commit in school history.

Sugar Hill (Ga.) Lanier defensive end Michael Allen committed to the Deacs' coaches over the weekend during a visit at Wake Forest.

So why did the nation's No. 169 overall prospect choose Wake Forest over numerous other Power Five conference programs?

"Why not? It's a great academic school," Allen answered. "I'll be well off there just with that aspect. I think coach Clawson told me that 14,000 apply and only 1,200 get in. Those are great numbers right there. That shows how bad people want to get there.

"From a football standpoint, my class is going to be the highest rated class for Wake. I'm pretty sure on that one. Some of my friends are going there too, so that'll be good."

Along with the academic aspect of Wake Forest and the strong 2017 football recruiting class that the Deacons are putting together, a big part of Allen's pledge to Wake was the coaching staff. Defensive line coach Dave Cohen led the charge for Wake Forest in landing Allen.

"Wake has been on me hard since they offered," said Allen. "The coaches told me that they've been recruiting me for 18 months. They've been wanting me for a long time."

Allen has been to Wake Forest multiple times, and he really enjoyed his visit over the weekend.

"It was a really good visit," he said. "I watched the freshman practice and the upper-classmen practice. I watched their film meetings and all that."

The four-star recruit is aware that he'll be Wake Forest's highest rated recruit, but it's not something that he is concerned about.

"I don't let it get to my head. I'm just going to be another player," Allen explained. "Rankings don't really mean anything. You have to do something in college. I just have to work. I can handle all the workload and weight room stuff. They're probably going to let me get in the rotation in the fall.

Now that Allen has committed, he says that his recruitment is shut down.

"No sir," he said when asked if he'll still consider other schools. "I'm going to be focused on this season and grades."