Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 9 No. 3 | January 2017

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28 Inside Hokie Sports
But he decided to gamble on Williams, seeing how he turned
junior college players into stars in just two years. He sat out the year
as required of transfers by the NCAA, and last year, he worked to get
the Hokies back to postseason play.
Mission accomplished, as Tech played in the NIT last season, its first
postseason bid since the 2010-11 season. The Hokies won 20 games for
the first time since that 2010-11 season as well. The program improved
a whopping nine games from the previous season. For his part, Allen
averaged 14.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
“Going to the last-place team in the ACC and having a nine-game
improvement my first year and having a 20-win season … I can’t
believe we did it,” Allen said. “Looking back, it was so hard. People
said it couldn’t be done. They picked us last.
“They still picked us 10th this year. There is still no belief. Part
of me likes that. Part of me wants my respect because we just did
something that had never been done in the ACC before. But part of
me is like, ‘OK, that’s what got us here in the first place, playing like
underdogs.’ So we’re just going to keep doing it.”
Allen continues to do his part. His scoring is down this
season, largely because of the depth and talent in the
Hokies’ lineup. He committed more than 100 turnovers
a year ago, but his assists are up and turnovers are
down this season. Plus, he shoots it at better than
50 percent.
More importantly, the Hokies continue to win,
claiming victory in 11 of their 12 non-conference
games.
“We can go as far as we want to go,” Allen said.
Allen graduates in May with a degree in
sociology, but before putting that to use, he hopes
Hired from Marquette to rebuild the Hokies’ program, Williams
went after anyone who brought talent to the roster—transfers, junior
college players, etc. He scored a conversation with Allen’s parents and
set to winning them over.
“He took the process through them, and I was like, ‘Hold up now,’”
Allen said, chuckling.
Of course, he went about winning over Allen as well, but not in a
traditional sense. Then again, nothing Williams does can be construed
as traditional.
Nearly all of their conversations focused on life situations,
academics and Allen’s plans for his future. The unique approach
gradually started to win over Allen, who decided to visit Tech’s
campus—and committed on his way home.
“We didn’t talk about basketball when I came here,” Allen said.
“We talked about everything else. He knew I knew basketball, and I
knew that he knew basketball. It was more than that.
“I’ve never had a coach recruit me like he did. He recruited me
really hard, and in my heart, I really felt like he wanted me and
believed in me. That’s all you want in a coach. It doesn’t matter where
you’re at or what you’re doing. As long as a coach believes in you,
that’s all you need.”
He wanted to be a part of a Tech turnaround, but his biggest concern
centered on whether he would have enough time. It usually takes
at least three to four years to turn around a program. He would be
available for just two.
Continued from page 27