7/29/2022 football Edit

Indiana lands commitment from 2023 OL Austin Barrett

Alec Lasley • TheHoosier

Senior Writer

@allasley

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Indiana landed a commitment from 2023 Illinois offensive lineman Austin Barrett, he announced on Friday.

Barrett made his announcement on social media. He committed on a visit to Bloomington.

Barrett is ranked the No. 22 offensive guard in Illinois in the Rivals150 class of 2023 rankings.

He held offers from Cincinnati, Duke, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa State, Syracuse, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois among others.

"The coach’s. I am a people driven guy and there is no place like Bloomington," Barrett told TheHoosier.com of why he chose Indiana.

Barrett visited Indiana in June and had a return visit to Indiana this weekend.

Indiana's pitch to Barrett was very straight forward on his first visit.

"It was great. They want me," Barrett said. "Like Coach Allen and Coach Hiller want to rock and roll with me and I don’t get that from a lot of big time schools like that."

At 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, Barrett has good size but is also quick off of the line. Indiana is interested in that athletic ability and the versatility he has.

"They want me to be a lean powerhouse because they can tell I am a naturally lean offensive linemen and they want to keep me like that," Barrett said. "Coach knows that the sky is the limit for me and I can also move and bend well. All things good for an athletic offensive linemen."

Barrett connected immediately with head coach Tom Allen on his first visit to Bloomington. From the beliefs on and off of the field, to the way they go about their lives. It was a relationship that Barrett felt very comfortable with.

"Coach Allen is a mans man in my opinion he follows very very similar morals of mine and me and him share the same values as far as beliefs so he is an incredible Coach," Barret said. "And Coach Hiller is the kind of guy I want to roll with. He always wants to go, go, go and I'm all for it."

Barrett is the seventh commitment for Tom Allen and the Indiana football program in the 2023 class.