There's a rather colloquial adage that was taught to me in my youth that I think is rather fitting for the recruitment of Nick Allegretti: Even sunlight shines on a dog's behind sometimes.
Tim Beckman was a terrible coach at Illinois, but one of the few things he did right in his tenure at Illinois was secure the services of Allegretti out of Lincoln Way East High School in Frankfort, Illinois.
It's not hard to see why, as he earned high praise as a U.S. Army All-American center who needed some offseason strength gains, but stepped on campus as one of the top two or three offensive lineman almost immediately.