2019 forward Andre Allen receives an offer from ASU, visiting this week
Ever since he received his release from his signed Letter of Intent with Buffalo, there have been dozens of high-major schools pursuing Arizona Western standout Andre Allen. Currently, though, there has been only one school in particular, standing out to him as the recruiting process between the junior college forward and the Sun Devils has been moving in a very rapid and positive pace.
“I received my offer yesterday,” Allen said. “I’ve been talking to the coaches today too building a relationship with them. Coach Burno is a real high character and no-nonsense coach. He expressed his team’s need for my position on the team. It was really mutual between us, and in this day and age, you don’t get much authenticity from coaches. You usually get the runaround and I appreciate how Coach Burno got straight to the point. He didn’t only tell me what he wants from me and what he’s looking for, but he also asked me what I was looking for from a college program in my last two years.
“I appreciated that a lot and I never got that from any coach that recruited me, except him.”
The forward added that he’s looking for high character coaches and players, a high energy team that takes the game seriously, that takes care of their business on and off the court, and overall having clear communication lines that will lead to winning.
“I feel that this is the type of culture established at Arizona State,” Allen commented. “All I care about is competing and winning, and I feel that I have a really good chance of doing that at Arizona State.”
The 6-9 210-pound forward averaged 13.3 ppg and 8.4 rpg for the 25-9 Matadors. Allen said that his versatility is one of his strongest traits and one that has been very appealing to the Sun Devil staff.
“They see me as an older guy that can bring experience to the roster,” Allen stated, “and they (ASU coaches) feel that that is something that is beneficial for them. I pride myself on my athleticism, my IQ for the game and my ability to defend multiple positions on the floor. They feel like I’m a playmaker and you can never go wrong with a playmaker and that’s the role I feel I can fill on the Arizona State roster.
“I’m a player that reads what the defense gives me on the scouting report. I can post up the smaller players, and if I’m going against a bigger, stronger player that is slow laterally and I have the ability to break him down from the wing. I really believe I can guard anyone on the court and play the 2-5 positions. I don’t think people see too much of that stuff and I’m excited for people to see that.”
Allen played his senior year at Balboa Prep in California following a few years at Westchester High School in Los Angeles. By his own admission, not taking his craft and studies seriously until much later in high school forced him to attend a junior college, yet also served as a valuable lesson and one that has ultimately benefitted his basketball career path.
“I didn’t get even one offer out of high school,” Allen recalled. “But everything worked out because I came into a great program at Arizona Western. Now, I really feel I’m ready to take that next step at a Division I program.”
Being in Yuma, Ariz. for the last two years Allen followed the ASU program fairly closely, and was impressed by the Sun Devils finishing second in the Pac-12 and earning an NCAA Tournament berth. He watched with great interest the post-season matchup between ASU and Buffalo, the school he committed to last September. Due to the fact that Bulls’ head coach, Nate Oats, left the program to the University of Alabama, Allen asked and received a release from his Letter of Intent.
“Because I committed so early to Buffalo, not a lot of schools were recruiting me,” Allen explained. “After I decommitted a lot of high major schools like UConn, Nebraska, Florida, Oklahoma State, San Diego State, Ole Miss, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Washington State recruited me
“Arizona State is my only visit scheduled, and there really is no school I’m as serious about besides them. When Arizona State called me, I was like ‘hey, let’s go visit there as soon as possible.’ My mom and I will visit there on Thursday.
“I love Arizona State; I love the coaching staff and I love the situation going in. We’ll see how the visit goes and it’s looking good for me to go there. There’s a very good chance I’ll be a Sun Devil.”