Germantown's DJ Allen turns basketball talent to football offers, chance to play for UCF
When D.J. Allen had a breakout year as a junior, no one really expected him to land a football scholarship at the Division I level.
That's because Allen, a Germantown defensive end, was better known as a basketball player. But, with a competitive edge and an ambitious drive, Allen became one of the fiercest prospects in the Memphis area, which eventually landed him to a scholarship with Central Florida and coach Gus Malzahn.
Allen joined Gene Robinson's program at Germantown during Week 6 of the 2021 season. The transition from the court to the field was seamless.
"Football popped out for him because he's 6-foot-3 and athletic as he is," Robinson said. "I don't necessarily think he choose football over basketball. I think football chose him and that's where you get the scholarship offer from having those basketball skills."
Allen is No. 9 on The Commercial Appeal's Dandy Dozen, which features the top 12 college football recruits in the Memphis area for the Class of 2024 as selected by the newspaper. He is a three-star defensive end, according to the 247Sports Composite and ranked as the No. 55 recruit in Tennessee.
Allen committed to UCF on June 12. He also has offers from Louisville, Memphis, Middle Tennessee State, Missouri and others. In 2022, he was named to The Commercial Appeal's All-Metro first team after compiling 42 tackles and 14 sacks.
Football becomes D.J. Allen's future
Once Allen found his passion for football, the excitement for improving and work ethic soon followed.
“Everybody just lives for hype," Allen added. "That’s what I want to do so that's why I’m working as hard as I can."
More: Commercial Appeal's Dandy Dozen for 2023 season to be released Friday
More: Memphis high school All-Region football teams for the 2022 season
Memphis offered him on April 21, but Allen chose the Knights because of his experience when he visited the school in Orlando.
As soon as Allen touched campus, Malzahn and his staff rolled out the red carpet for his unofficial visit, leaving quite the impression for his official visit later.
"It didn’t matter who was on the staff, they just made sure me and my family were good," Allen said. "All they worried about was me having fun and making sure I was good.”
During Allen's official visit, the team gave Allen the best experience he could've asked for because they took care of the recruiting side of the visit.
"They didn't even worry about me committing," Allen said. "All they were worrying about was me having fun and making sure I was good."
Throughout the recruiting process, Robinson advised Allen that he was going to be the one waking up early in the morning and facing the demands of college football.
Robinson encouraged Allen to make a list of the positives and negatives and go from there.
"D.J. felt that UCF was best for him and that's the school he picked," Robinson said.
Though Allen was oozing with talent, Robinson noted that UCF was getting a player who's fairly new to football and someone who hasn't been playing a lot of years but someone who is extremely athletic.
"He hasn't even scratched the surface of what he can become," Robinson said.
Reach sports writer Jerry Jiang at JJiang@gannett.com or on Twitter @j_jiang30
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: TSSAA football: DJ Allen a UCF commit thanks to basketball talent
