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- Mar 19, 2019
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‘Your word is your bond’
Iowa isn’t exactly known as a hotbed for elite Division I talent. So when Lazard began to shine in sports, he “stuck out like a sore thumb” in the Des Moines metro area.
By his sophomore year at Urbandale, Lazard had narrowed his focus down to football and basketball. A savvy and smart student of the game, Lazard was a standout in both sports.
Bjorkgren, who coached for 27 years at Urbandale before accepting the head coaching position at Division III Simpson College a few years ago, holds Lazard in high esteem.
Capable of dunking as a freshman, Lazard broke a school record with six dunks in a single game on opening night of his junior year. As a senior, Lazard dunked 47 times in games.
A power forward and physical post player, Lazard starred on two state-qualifying teams at Urbandale. While football was his primary sport, Lazard received plenty of interest from D-I basketball programs across the Midwest.
In the process, Allen formed a strong bond with Bjorkgren, whose mother, Norma, became one of Allen’s biggest fans all the way until her passing a week ago at 95 years old.
“She didn’t miss a Green Bay game because of Allen Lazard,” Bjorkgren said. “She’d be like, ‘What time is the Packer game? What channel is it going to be on?’ I’d get those calls all the time.”
The football field is where Lazard really separated himself, though. He was thrown into the starting lineup as a free safety during his freshman year after injuries hit. Kevin was his position coach at the time.
When he was younger, there were times Allen would get a little peeved when his dad would sit him down to watch film, but he started to see the benefits of that approach in high school. He saw the game at a different level and set him up for success at his natural position of receiver.
By junior year, Lazard was playing both sides of the ball. His production caused Urbandale to alter its triple-option offense and incorporate more spread concepts to capitalize on Lazard’s big-play potential.
TeBrink, an Iowa State alumnus, remembers a conversation he had with then-Cyclones coach Paul Rhoads about Lazard as early as his freshman year of high school. Legacy or not, TeBrink was convinced Lazard was a player Iowa State needed to pursue.
“I had played at Iowa State and Coach Rhoads had recruited me before he left to go to be a DC at Pittsburgh,” TeBrink recalled. “He walked over at a basketball game and we were talking, and I said, ‘I think this is a kid you’re going to want to get on your radar pretty quick if he’s not there already.’”
Iowa State began recruiting Allen during his sophomore year, while also trying to get his older brother Anthony to walk on to the football team.
Kevin never pressured his son to play for the Cyclones. He loved his experience in Ames but that was his experience – and also his only D-I offer coming out of high school. If he wanted to go to rival Iowa, Kevin told his son: “For those four years or five years, I’ll wear that Hawkeye sweatshirt because you’re there.”
The only thing Kevin asked was for his sons to think long and hard about their decision. Because once they committed: “Your word is your bond. If you say you’re going to do something, then do it.”
Anthony eventually walked on at ISU, and Allen followed suit after his junior season, committing after the Cyclones’ six-win campaign that earned them a trip to the Liberty Bowl. By this time, Allen had emerged as one of the top recruits in the country after catching 40 passes for a whopping 928 yards and 11 touchdowns.
As more scouting bureaus caught onto Allen’s hype, offers came in from the likes of Notre Dame, Stanford, California, Oregon and LSU. Coaches would come to Urbandale’s basketball practices just to watch Lazard.
The interest from programs with national title aspirations was tough for Allen to process, especially after Iowa State went 3-9 during his senior year of high school.
“I went through a period of time of being very unsure,” Lazard said. “Having a foot in each door, half-in, half-out, but then I realized when I close my eyes and I picture myself playing college football, there’s only one uniform I pictured myself in. It was Iowa State.”
It was one down year, Allen convinced himself. As tempting as it might have been to go play for a more established program, Allen felt like he could help Iowa State put together a run of “bowl games all four years.” If only it was that simple.