Recruiting Report: Sam Allen (2017)
Grinnell’s 6-foot-3 shooting guard Sam Allen has been a top prospect in the Iowa for years now, and since our sites inception in 2014 he’s been a player we’ve identified as a fringe Division I guy. He had some…
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Continue ReadingGrinnell’s 6-foot-3 shooting guard Sam Allen has been a top prospect in the Iowa for years now, and since our sites inception in 2014 he’s been a player we’ve identified as a fringe Division I guy.
He had some very initial D1 interest when we last talked to him, and as he heads into his 17U summer with Martin Brothers, he says his recruitment is starting to ramp-up.
“Northern Illinois, I’ve been talking to them a lot, I went on an unofficial there and watched a game. Western Illinois has been sending me a lot of stuff, along with NDSU, and some Sioux Falls. Navy has been sending me a lot of stuff, and then Morningside too,” said Allen, who discussed his Northern Illinois visit.
“I really enjoyed the visit, it was a really nice campus, a really nice gym, the coaches are all really nice. I’m glad I went.”
The junior sharpshooter mentioned to PHI which schools he feels may be closest to offering.
“I’d say the closest to offering would be NIU and Navy,” said Allen. “They’ve been inviting me to come to elite camps and keeping in contact, but I think that’s a long ways from happening.”
Like many players in the 2017 class vying for recruitment, Allen recognizes the magnitude of the upcoming spring and summer
“I am thinking about my recruitment. I’ll have to have a big summer this year. I’ll have to play well, I’ll have to show out in order to get more recruitment,” said Allen. “This summer will be crucial, I’m just going to work hard and do the best I can and see where it goes from there.”
After spending his first two seasons with Grinnell primarily as a shot-maker, Allen began to diversity his skill-set a bit this past season.
“Improvements that I think I’ve made have definitely been ball-handling, I was at the point guard a lot more this year, also getting to the rim,” said Allen. “I used to rely on the 3-point shot a lot, but I thought I got to the rim pretty well this year.”
Allen averaged 16.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game this season with the Tigers, he reflected on his junior season.
“My role in the past was to just score. But this year it was to distribute the ball a lot more, and create shots for other people — just get them the ball,” said Allen.
“I would say I played good. I wouldn’t say I was great, but not bad either. The season ended abruptly, but all of our starters are returning, so that’s good.”