Five-star cornerback Derrik Allen, who owns over 30 scholarship offers, cut down his recruitment earlier this month when he released a list of his top 10 schools on Twitter.

The Marietta (Ga.) Lassiter standout named Clemson, Cal, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, N.C. State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State as the schools he will focus on and evaluate as he moves forward in his recruiting process.

Why did Clemson make the cut for Allen, one of the top prospects in the 2018 class?

“Clemson was always going to be in the final group,” Allen told The Clemson Insider. “I like everything about Clemson. Coaching, facilities, campus.”

Clemson was one of the first schools to offer Allen when it pulled the trigger in June 2015, and it is one of the schools recruiting him the hardest.

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables recently paid Allen a visit prior to the dead period that began on Dec. 12.

“Coach Venables was at my school right before the dead period and talked to my coaches,” Allen said. “I talked to him via text as well.”

Allen said he has a strong relationship with Venables.

“Very good,” he said. “I like him a lot.”

In addition to offers from his top group, Allen has offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, UCLA, Virginia Tech and others.

Along with Clemson, he is hearing the most from Ohio State, Georgia, Notre Dame and Florida State.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder last visited Clemson in March for Junior Day. He plans to get back on campus soon but doesn’t have a date set of yet.

“Probably earliest Junior Day if not before then,” Allen said. “My mom wants to get there for her first visit.”

“For my mom it’s about academics,” he added. “And environment or culture of the school.”

Allen had an outstanding junior season for Lassiter, recording 37 tackles, one sack, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. He added seven pass breakups despite being targeted just 35 times as teams shied away from throwing to the shutdown corner’s side of the field.

A terrific athlete, Allen also logged four receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown while returning six kicks for 205 yards (34.2 average).

Allen was recently named a first-team All-Cobb-County performer and a first-team Region 4AAAAAAA performer.

“It felt good,” Allen said of the honors. “Something I wanted to achieve for sure. Our region had some good players, especially DBs, and our county always has a lot of D1 players.”

Allen isn’t sure exactly when he will commit, but said it will likely be before the beginning of his senior season.

He will prioritize a few factors when rendering a decision in the future.

“Academics, development as a player and just my overall comfort level with the school,” he told TCI in November.

Allen is rated by 247Sports as the nation’s No. 3 cornerback, the No. 5 prospect in Georgia and the nation’s No. 21 prospect in the 2018 class.