Better Know a Badger: Four-Star WR Markus Allen

Most of Wisconsin's 2021 class -- both for the football and men's basketball programs -- will be heading to Madison shortly, though Paul Chryst's team already welcomed seven players as mid-year enrollees in January.

BadgerBlitz.com has kicked off its annual "Better Know a Badger" series, where we check in with the incoming freshmen as they begin the transition from being prep standouts to college athletes. In 2021, we include some transfers as well.

Miss some? Check out the links below: Basketball: C Chris Vogt | G Isaac Lindsey |

Football: QB Deacon Hill | CB Ricardo Hallman | WR Skyler Bell | S Hunter Wohler | ILB Bryan Sanborn | OL Nolan Rucci | RB Antwan Roberts | OLB Ayo Adebogun | OLB Darryl Peterson |

Markus Allen originally committed to Michigan in the spring of 2020 but reopened his recruiting process in September of last year. From there, Wisconsin and wide receivers coach Alvis Whitted developed a relationship with the four-star wide receiver prospect -- and in November, he made his decision to become a Badger. The Dayton, Ohio native received offers from other Power Five programs like Boston College, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Virginia and West Virginia.

Allen -- who made it official to join UW during the early signing period in December -- spoke with BadgerBlitz.com on May 20 about a variety of topics as the days tick down before his arrival at Wisconsin. Questions and his answers have been edited for clarity.

MA: Senior year, you know, it went very well, except like at the end. We were ruled out in the playoffs because of COVID contact tracing on the team and everything. But other than that, the year went good. We came out, we practiced hard. We played hard. Every Friday, we went out, executed and did our job of how we practice all week and prepped all week for it. So every Friday night, we just went out and have fun.

It was fun. In COVID also, just having the city come out, the fans come out and the support from kids from elementary all the way to high school, even some college students coming back, alumni. So, I mean, it was really fun, and I enjoyed it a lot, especially within COVID.

MA: I feel like I developed my speed and my cuts and my route running because my junior year coming in, I was a very underrated guy. A lot of college coaches and a lot of people just naturally didn't know much of me. In articles, I was tired of hearing, 'He's not a route runner.' I was tired of hearing, 'He's not quick enough,' or, you know, college coaches telling you your route running can be better, or you could be faster, you could burst off the line and stuff.

So in the summer, going into my senior year, I really took that to heart, and I worked on it, and I just worked on it over and over and over. Then senior season came, and I just put it under the lights on Friday night, and it showed on film. And then I had a lot of people tell me that they've seen the big change from junior to senior year, and they've seen me develop on and off the field just as a character and a person. So I feel like that played a role just from my junior to my senior year a lot.

MA: High school-wise, I would have to say, Isaiah Bowser. He was Northwestern's running back. I went against him my freshman year, and this dude [laughs], he had a game. He had six touchdowns, this was at my old high school, Xenia High School. He had six touchdowns I think like 300 all-purpose yards, and he was just killing it on the field. And then he signed and committed to Northwestern.

MA: That process was an eye-opener because going in -- committing to Michigan and committing to [Jim] Harbaugh's football team and everything -- at first, I felt like it was right, and a lot of people they think I committed early because I committed in May, and that was before I even got my senior campaign underway. When I committed, I felt the love and I felt everything, but then after like a couple of weeks and a couple of months, I felt like it faded away. And I had to take a step back and look like is this the place I want to be for the next four to five years?

So that's when I sat down with the family, and we thought about it and opened up my recruitment. And then that's where at that time, me and my family, it was crunch time. Like we had enough time but then we didn't have as much time as we needed to find the next home, so that's where schools were coming to me and talking to me and everything. I had to analyze them how they were analyzing me, and I had to ask them questions to see if they can answer questions that I need answered and my family need answered. Honestly if they couldn't answer the questions and they couldn't provide what I needed, then they were honestly off my list because that time I needed to find a school and settle down and get right with the school, and that school had to be Wisconsin.

Coach Whitted when he first came in, he called me after Wisconsin offered me and they hired him, and I really didn't give him a chance. But then after that, I gave him a chance once I opened my recruitment back up and he was on me heavy. Like that day as soon as I decommitted, in that hour as soon as I decommitted. Saeed [Khalif], Jensen [Gebhardt] and all them they all kept the love there. Coach Chryst, he kept the love there. He kept the scholarship there, and I really respected that a lot from Wisconsin because a lot of schools didn't do that. So that's why Wisconsin was really a good pick and it is a good fit, and that's why I stuck with them because of the family atmosphere and how they just welcomed me in.

MA: What sold me also is when I stepped foot on campus. When I stepped foot on campus, you know, at first I didn't know much about Madison. I didn't know much about Wisconsin. I was stereotyping Wisconsin. I was thinking it was cornfields and stuff like that. I'm an Ohio guy, and there's enough cornfield up here and everything.

So when I went to Wisconsin, it wasn't much different. But then again, the feeling of good vibes and energy from everybody, just not even athletics, not even people that play sports, or people that go to college, you know what I mean? Just people in general.

Like I said, Jensen and them welcomed me in as soon as I stepped foot onto the campus, and before, making sure I was setting everything when I came to visit, and making sure I had everything that I needed. Coach Whitted to this day, it's always, 'Call me if you need anything. Call me if you [need to] talk about anything. If you need help with anything, getting situated into Wisconsin,' stuff like that.

[Director of football student services] Abby Suguiyama does a good job also. I know she doesn't get a lot of toots and hollers, but she's doing a good job also. It's not just the head coach or the football guys, or the guy that just wants you to come, you know what I mean? It's not the guys that just want to recruit you just to recruit you. These guys actually want to tell and show you that Wisconsin is a family-based program, and once you're in, you're in. Once you're a Badger, you're a Badger forever. That's what I realized quickly, other than other colleges, and that sold me and my family a lot.

MA: There were schools -- Virginia, Cincinnati, Penn State. Ohio State was pushing heavy Coach [Brian] Hartline, he was hitting me every day, calling me every day, trying to find a spot for me, because numbers were tight, especially with a lot of guys coming because of COVID and then seeing what Chris Olave was doing and everything.

He was hitting me, trying to figure out what Chris Olave was gonna do, if he was going to the draft or if he was staying. I'm an in-state guy, so they were on me heavy and everything -- but then again, I had to go with my gut and I had to go with what I felt was best and what gave me the best future and the best outlook at the end of the day, and I feel like Wisconsin filled that spot.

Then Virginia, it was just coming there with a Coach [Bronco] Mendenhall and coming in with Coach Marques Hagans, and they were pushing me hard, and they really wanted me and everything. And I still respect them, and I will respect every coach that has recruited me and who went down to the wire all the way to signing day. And then Cincinnati, [former defensive coordinator Marcus] Freeman and [former director fo recruiting] Chad Bowden, they were recruiting me hard also right here 45 minutes down the highway, close to Dayton. They really wanted me also so they were pushing hard, but I feel like Wisconsin always just had that edge from other schools just because of the family and I want to explore. I didn't want to stay in Ohio and go to school. I wanted to go out, and I wanted to see something different and challenge my own self. I accepted the challenge, and I went ahead, committed and signed and just told the other schools that Wisconsin I feel like is a place I got to be.

MA: Coach Whitted. I will say me and Coach Whitted, we talk on a weekly basis. You know, he's checking up on me and Skyler Bell all the time. You know, we're in a group chat, and then we're in a receiver group chat also so we're getting the same alerts that they're getting. We've been getting them ever since we committed. Like I told Coach Whitted, once I committed, like this is it. This is where I'm coming no matter what, because I didn't just commit to Wisconsin just because of the coach. So I was all the way locked in Wisconsin, so he put us in the group chat and we were talking heavily.

Then Danny Davis, Kendric Pryor, Chimere Dike, Graham Mertz, all those guys, they reach out. Al Ashford, we talk, so with the staff, Coach Whitted, Saeed and Jensen, we talk very often. They even call my family without even talking to me. ... My mom, she's like 'I'm on the phone with Saeed,' and I'm like, 'OK.' [laughs] I love that ,you know what I mean, and that's what you want and that's what a kid hopes to have because this is going to be your next home for the next four to five years unless you transfer. But the next four to five years, you want to be saying you want to be with a family, and I feel like that's the spot. Coach Chryst, he'll call me and he'll [say], 'I can't wait to get you up here. It's gonna be fun. We got new things we'll be doing,' all this other stuff.

Then I want to say Coach [Joe] Rudolph, we won't even talk about football. We just talk cordial about just life and stuff like that. So I really respect that a lot.

MA: Yes, sir. They would like to use me as either X- or Z-receiver. Then Coach Whitted, he wants to move me around. I can motion in, I can motion out. I can be backside by myself, I can be trips side, so it's a lot of stuff that he wants to do with me, especially with me being a big body receiver that can move, that's aggressive, that can catch.

I want to come in with the mentality that I'm not just a deep threat. I'm a threat all across the whole field. So at that aspect, him moving me around, and him telling me personally just make sure you know most of it and know a lot of it, just so you're ready. And when you come here, it's on and popping, so I really like that.

Me and Skyler coming in, Kendric and Danny there and Chimere Dike and a lot of other guys and a lot of other ballers, you know, I feel like the receiver corps is going to be deep. All of us can move around anywhere, and that's why I'm just trying to learn as much as I can as soon as I can, so when I come in, we're firing on all cylinders.

MA: Yeah, we chatted with them, and the first thing they all said -- Al and Jack [Pugh] said -- naps are the best. [laughs] Make sure you get used to naps in college, but other than that, they love it. Because Al, he never got to take a visit because of COVID and everything, so it was his first time on the Madison camous and it was a shock. But he went up there, he loves it, and I know if he went, and he hasn't went to Wisconsin on a visit, and he loves it, I know. I'm gonna love it because I visited.

Just being around all the guys, and coming in with that group of early enrollees that went in, they're pretty solid. They tell us all the time where you come in, just have your head down and work. Just go with the flow and set the standard when you come in. Just make sure you come in and work as hard as you can in front of the coaches. Don't take any reps off and push yourself and challenge each other. I feel like that's what's so good about this 2021 class is we're willing to challenge each other. We're willing to keep it real with each other and tell us what we need to work on and tell us what's going on now while we're not up there so then when we get up there we already know.

That's the main thing. Then they were just telling us about workouts. When we come up, their workouts, what they did and what they do, and we were staying on the app and working out. So we were kind of getting a little spill of what they were doing up at Wisconsin while we're here at home and everything.

MA: Yeah, me and Skyler. We move in June 11-13. That's when I think it's that little weekend we get to move on a Friday or Sunday. So I will be up there June 11 ready to move in and get everything started.

MA: I feel like I can bring leadership also being young, and I feel like I could add another weapon to the offense. Because we had a lot of injuries this past season, this last COVID season, and Danny sitting out a little bit due to a little injury, and then Kendric sitting out also. I feel that's just another weapon that's added to the arsenal.

Graham's gonna have another guy to throw the football too, and where we can open up and we can actually be dudes on the outside and also have a good run game. So I feel like once you have a balanced offense, defenses are gonna have a hard time stopping. A lot of Big Ten schools, especially like Iowa and Minnesota and stuff, a lot of teams that want to run man [coverage], send blitzes and stuff like that. And so I feel like, especially with us coming in, there's more weapons on the outside, and I feel I'm just gonna be another threat on the outside also.

MA: Areas I feel like I can improve on coming up to Madison, Wisconsin, is continue to work on route running, because you can never be perfect at route running. You can always have something that you can find, that you can fix. Then also coming up there and using my body more, being more physical at the next level, because I was physical in high school, but now this is grown men ball. I'm gonna be playing with some sixth-year guys, some dudes that were seniors when I was in seventh grade, you know what I mean? [Laughs]

Being physical and being that big body receiver that Wisconsin needs that can do it all, that can be that down-to-down receiver. So I just want to develop my skills for that.

MA: My goals my freshman year, honestly, I want to be a freshman player of the year. Honestly, I want to go for that, and then I want to try to get Big Ten offensive player of the year and everything that I can do, put it in my will every time that I go out every Saturday and to go play football that I gave it 100% every rep. I give all I got, because if you don't give all you got, then you're letting the team down. If you're not exhausted after the game, then you didn't do something, right.

So that's how always played and that's been my motto so I want to get everything I got, and I feel like if I let my athleticism and my ability to go out and play football, be the best football [player] I can be and play how I'm coached to play and rise up to their standard and go to my training, I feel like then again, I can go out and be Big Ten offensive player of the year, be Big Ten freshman player of the year. So just go out and play ball and do what I know is best.