College Commitment: Immanuel Allen
It was a long journey, but Immanuel Allen made it to Division I basketball. It was three years ago he last played high school basketball on Oregon soil, but the former Lakeridge High School standout showed college potential then as a junior and things developed over the next couple years at two different destinations. Allen signed in the spring with Abilene Christian and he knew it was the right place for the athletic 6-foot-4 wing not long after he made his official visit.
“Immediately after I got there it felt like home,” Allen said. “The coaches and the players that I met really made it feel like home. I left after my visit and I actually didn’t want to leave – I wanted to stay and go to school there.”
Allen described the vibes he had going into the trip. “I was going on my flight from here in Wichita to Dallas and I called my younger brother Christian and I was telling him how I was going on my official visit to Abilene Christian,” Allen said. “There was a lady sitting right next to me waiting to board at the gate and she was like – Oh my Gosh, you’re going to Abilene Christian? She said she was from Abilene and that the school meant everything to her and that I was going to love it there.”
“She told me what to expect when I get there and she was really supportive and open and honest to me,” Allen continued. “So now I had a complete idea of what what I was going into.”
With that, Allen knew the Wildcats were the right fit for him and he committed to them over other opportunities at Cornell, Cal State Bakersfield, and Omaha. It completed a long journey for Allen, who from Lakeridge went to Shadow Mountain High School in Arizona, to this past season at Butler Community College in Kansas. A full qualifier out of high school he will have three years of eligibility at Abilene Christian, where he hopes to showcase a more all-around game than he had in high school – especially when he was basically just a great athlete at Lakeridge.
“Basically they are going to be using me at the two or the three,” Allen said. “Coming from high school where I was a post player, coming to Butler I completely changed my entire game. From the way I was at Lakeridge to the way I’m now, it’s a night and day difference. I can’t think thank my coaches here in junior college enough, getting in the gym with me and really working with me to help me become a Division I basketball player.”