Stanford's men's basketball team received its third verbal commitment for next season, and the latest one is probably the best of the three.
Rosco Allen, a 6-8 power forward from Las Vegas, had offers from North Carolina and Texas among others, but recently gave a verbal commitment to Stanford, according to multiple reports.
Allen joins forward Grant Vorheoven and guard Chistian Sanders as the three players committed to the Cardinal. The early signing period is in about two weeks, and presumably all three will sign letters of intent then. Stanford has one more scholarship available for 2012 if it chooses to use it.
With Josh Owens, Andrew Zimmermann and Jack Trotter all being seniors this season, the Cardinal will need some big men. (Stanford is picked to finish sixth in the Pac-12 this season.)
Allen is ranked as the nation's No. 72 overall recruit by Scout.com and No. 55 by ESPN. A proficient offensive player with a good outside shot, Allen is effective in transition and is hard worker. He's getting better with his inside game, but it could still use some work.
He is not particuarly strong and his lateral movement is not great, so he may have trouble guarding power forwards in the Pac-12, at least until he fills out, because he's still rather thin.
Allen, who attends Bishop Gorman High School, also seriously considered Oregon and UNLV before picking Stanford, which has been recruiting Allen a long time.
Allen told Scout.com that Johnny Dawkins and assistant Mike Schrage have been recruiting Allen for over three years and he said their consistency stood out to him.
“He’s been recruiting me since my freshman year so I’ve known him for a long time, him and coach Schrage,” he told Scout.com. “I’ve seen them coming to games and coming to practices and just being consistent and I just built a great relationship with them.”
Of course, Stanford's academic reputation played a role as well.
“It definitely mattered a lot to me,” he told Scout.com. “I know that one day basketball is going to end and I just have to look forward to the future and I think with Stanford behind me will give me a better job.”
Visiting the Stanford campus also played a part in his choice.
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