Curtis Allen, who played basketball two years at Kansas State and another year at Oral Roberts University, has transferred to Lewis-Clark State College where he will play his senior season for Warrior coach Tim Walker.
Allen, a 6-foot-4 215-pound left-handed guard from Long Beach, Calif., was a highly touted high school recruit. During his junior year at Rolling Hills Prep in Palos Verdes, Calif., he won the John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year award. Each year, the MVP of each of the five California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section divisions and one from the Los Angeles City division earn the Wooden Award.
During his junior year at Rolling Hills, Allen averaged 26.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.2 blocks and 4.0 assists per game. He then transferred to Poly High School in Long Beach for his senior year and helped the team to a 28-4 record and its fifth straight Southern Section title. He averaged 12.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game, and scored in double digits in 13 games.
As well as earning all-league and other honors his senior year, Allen was ranked as one of the top 150 high school players in the nation by a number of recruiting services, including No. 81 by Clark Francis of Hoop Scoop. He also was named one of the top 35 wing/shooting guards by both Rivals.com (28) and Hoopmasters.com (31).
"Curtis is an exceptionally talented player,” Walker said. “He can score in so many ways. His size and strength will be a great asset this coming season. Curtis' ability to shoot the 3, get to the rim, and his athleticism will make him a tough guard for opponents. We're excited he chose LC.”
Allen signed with Kansas State out of high school and saw action as a freshman, averaging 1.5 points and 0.8 rebounds in 21 games. He had a season-best eight points against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and then had six points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal in a win over Colorado.
During his sophomore year, Allen saw action in 22 of the team’s 28 games and averaged 2.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 7.3 minutes of playing time per game. He scored a season-high seven points in three different games and had four points, seven rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal in a game against Texas A&M.
Following the 2005-06 season, Allen transferred to Oral Roberts University, another NCAA Division I school, but had to sit out the 2006-07 season in order to be eligible to play, according to NCAA rules, although he was allowed to participate in daily practices.
He was then eligible to play last season and saw action in 17 games, including in ORU’s first-round loss to Pittsburgh in the NCAA Tournament. Allen averaged 3.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 10.2 minutes of playing time per contest. He scored a season-high nine points twice, including in the season opener.
LCSC is coming off a 22-10 season and won both the Frontier Conference regular season and tournament titles for the second straight season, the first time it has been accomplished since LCSC joined the league in 1999. The Warriors lost six seniors from the squad, including conference MVP Mike Gordy.
