Badgers Beat Blue Bloods to Land Intriguing CB Prospect from California

Wisconsin football’s first official visit weekend is the gift that keeps on giving.

Just two days after the Badgers secured commitments from four-star wideout Jai Jones and three-star linebacker Nathan Jones, another high-priority target has pledged to Wisconsin after its first big recruiting weekend of the summer.

Three-star cornerback Royalton Allen from Hesperia, California became the the 16th member of Wisconsin’s surging 2027 recruiting class Tuesday afternoon, as first reported by On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

Allen is a consensus three-star prospect, and it’s difficult to gauge where he’s ranked positionally because Wisconsin is recruiting him as a cornerback, although he’s listed as everything from safety to ATH to wide receiver.

Still, there’s plenty to get excited about when looking at what Allen could bring to Wisconsin. He’s a proper two-way player who plays safety, cornerback and wideout in high school with some receiver sprinkled in. His body looks more like that of a cornerback’s, but the Badgers have recruited some versatile defensive backs in recent years and figured out where to deploy them in the secondary once they enroll.

Allen ultimately chose the Badgers over California, Auburn and BYU, but the intriguing cornerback prospect also picked up offers from Georgia, USC and Ole Miss, among others, during the course of his recruitment.

Pop on the tape, and no matter what position, you see the kind of relentless motor and physicality that new cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples has spoken of in reference to what he looks for in a high school or portal prospect.

Allen’s ball skills and overall nose for the football appear excellent on tape, and that’s definitely something that his positional versatility helps with. He’s listed as just 6-foot, but he plays much bigger than that. He’s sticky and physical in press coverage, and there were multiple clips on his 2025 Hudl tape in which he put a receiver on his rear end at the line of scrimmage.

Allen is the Badgers’ first cornerback commit in the 2027 cycle, although another one could be coming momentarily. He’s the third total secondary player, as Wisconsin also has commitments from Waukesha safety Dustin Roach and Delaware safety DJ Davis.