Allen picks Big Ten

Coaches from around the country have made the trip to Meadowcreek High School in metro Atlanta to see Chris Allen in action. They can cancel their travels now. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound shooting guard announced he committed to a Big Ten school on Thursday morning.

Allen announced he will take his game to Michigan State after high school at a press conference at his school on Thursday morning.

"They have been my favorite school ever growing up," Allen told Rivals.com on Tuesday in an exclusive interview.

Sometimes it is just tough to beat that. The Spartans caught wind of Allen's interest and since the summer, the Big Ten school has been hot after the Georgia shooting guard.

Allen said the decision was a difficult one, especially with the attraction of playing close to home at either Georgia or Georgia Tech, who he said where in the final four along with the Spartans and Tennessee. In the end, the allure of Michigan State was tough to turn down, he said.

"I've been watching all of their games for a while now and I can just see myself as a player there," Allen said. "They have a good kind of environment there. They have a good fan base and support from the community. The coaches, the whole program, everything about them I just liked. I figured it was time for me to decide and take the pressure off of me."

The pressure began to build since the summer as a number of programs made Allen their top priority in the backcourt. In that time, Allen became one of the most improved players in the Southeast and he's mixing in more drives to the basket for buckets, taking less shots but making a high percentage and, at times, running the point.

"I feel like I can run the floor really well and my shot, man, that's my ticket," Allen said. "People thought that all I could do was just shoot but I've been working on my overall game and it's gotten a lot better."

Allen will take a trip to East Lansing on Jan. 28 for the Iowa game, he said. While there, he'll meet up with future backcourt mate Kalin Lucas, who committed to the Spartans in December. The Big Ten school is also the strong leader for five-star guard Durrell Summers as well. Allen said he'd like to start a new tradition with the Michigan natives.

"I was talking with (MSU assistant Mark) Montgomery and he was telling me about how they like to run three guards and that my class could be as good as the other great guards they've had there," Allen said.

Summers told Rivals.com on Wednesday night that he will likely decided in the next week about his college destination.