John Calipari never seemed to have the same love for Dontaie Allen (No. 11) that Allen had for UK. (Vicky Graff Photo)
No one can be surprised that Dontaie Allen announced Thursday he was transferring from Kentucky. The former Kentucky Mr. Basketball from Pendleton County loved the Wildcats and made no secret that UK was his dream school. When UK coach John Calipari offered him a scholarship during an on-campus visit, Allen accepted immediately.
However, I am not sure Calipari ever had quite the same love affair for Allen that Allen had for Kentucky. He averaged 31.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per game as a junior at Pendleton County and shot 59 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range. He was a top 100 player in his recruiting class.
Kentucky almost reluctantly recruited him and he did not get the UK scholarship offer until after he got an offer from Louisville. However, Calipari never had a conversation with Pendleton coach Keaton Belcher and left the recruiting mainly to his assistant coaches.
Allen only played in 12 games his senior season at Pendleton before suffering a knee injury. He scored 50 or more points in six of those games and averaged 42.9 points and 14.2 rebounds per game. He finished his career with 3,255 points, 11th all-time at the time, and 1,228 rebounds, 22nd best all-time in Kentucky.
He missed his freshman season at UK rehabbing from knee and shoulder injuries. He averaged 5.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 14 minutes per game as a redshirt freshman when UK went 9-16 but he had monster games twice against Mississippi State when he got extended playing time.
This season he averaged 2.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and only 6.4 minutes per game in the 19 games he did play. He was a non-factor in SEC play and really never got any serious playing time after going 3-for-20 from the field in a three-game stretch against Albany, North Florida and Central Michigan.
Allen announced his decision to leave UK on Twitter.
“Wow. This journey has been like no other. I can’t thank Big Blue Nation enough for embracing me unconditionally through the highs and lows. A kid from Kentucky given an unbelievable opportunity to play for his dream school,” Allen posted on Twitter.
“This wouldn’t feel right without thanking all of my coaches, brothers, the trainers, the staff, Big Blue Nation, and everyone who made my last three years so special. Lexington, Kentucky, will forever be home.
“After much thought and consideration, I have decided to put my name into the transfer portal.”
Calipari also released a statement on Twitter about Allen’s departure.
“Dontaie has been an incredible teammate and brought a lot to our program,” Calipari tweeted. “He battled to overcome an injury early and never let the adversity change who he was.
“Proud of you, Dontaie! Thank you for the last three years and I wish you nothing but success on your journey!”
* * *
Allen becomes the 14th player to transfer from Kentucky under Calipari joining Darnell Dodson (Southern Miss), Stacey Poole (Georgia Tech), Ryan Harrow (Georgia State), Kyle Wiltjer (Gonzaga), Marcus Lee (California), Charles Matthews (Michigan), Sacha Killeya-Jones (NC State), Tai Wynyard (Santa Clara), Jemarl Baker (Arizona), Quade Green (Washington), Brad Calipari (Detroit), Johnny Juzang (UCLA), Devin Askew (Texas), and Cam’Ron Fletcher (Florida State).
12 Responses
I hope he tears it up where ever he goes. Will always root for this young man and I also believe he was never given the same length of rope Cal’s favorites received.
If you can’t get Cal recognition from the NBA, you are an after thought.
Can’t disagree with anything you said! Wish DA the very best! I love Cal, but he did Dontaie wrong.
Dontaie is not the first player to get the "wrong" treatment from Calipari over the last 12 years, and he won’t be the last.
Calipari is the wrong guy for the University of Kentucky. He screams and curses players during games…is that the example that UK desires to put out to the rest of the nation? He refuses to use multiple offenses and defenses, yet that is a common trait for the teams that made it to the Sweet 16. He is the only coach that admittedly puts the NBA aspirations of a few select players ahead of the rest of the team’s desire to get better. He disrespects the talent of in-state players and recruits OAD kids who are selfish, entitled, and couldn’t care less about Kentucky traditions. It’s time for Calipari to move on to whatever else will welcome him and find a new coach who represents Kentucky values and is dedicated to winning championships for UK. As for dumbass Mitch Barnhart, you should be fired too for ever giving Calipari such a ridiculous contract. We need a coach who wants to coach here, not move on to the NBA or whoever the highest bidder is. Coach K, Jay Wright, and Mark Few have all had money thrown at them but they choose to stay with their schools. They want to coach there. They are not pimps for NBA teams. Our problems lie not just within our coaching staff but also with UK administration itself. UK should pay the buyouts and get rid of both of these characters.
U just said Calipari cusses players and you’re cussing in this statement so that immediately shows the ignorance and bias u have. Hope u have a great day
I’m suprised Toppin isn’t leaving either. He looked miserable at times. A freakish athlete like him needs to be on the court more. Look , I don’t care what anyone says , if your coach says I want you to play freely and you mess up and you’re back on the bench. That’s insane to me.
I can’t recall exactly when Mitch gave Cal his lifetime contract or his reason for doing so. Does anyone recall his statement ? I would like some media to ask him about it now.
Everyone calls it a lifetime contract. In 2019 he was given a new contract through 2029. I guess that’s a lifetime to some of you. His buyout is 52 million this year. It drops about 7 million per year.
Contract came after the 2019 NCAA loss to Auburn. True reason was UK was worried about losing Calipari to UCLA at the time
I hate it for DA! What a great kid! We all saw this coming a long time ago. Cal never gave him a chance. I hope that we don’t lose Bryce and Jacob also. There were plenty of times when he could have given them game minutes as we all know.
Allen becomes the 14th player to transfer from Kentucky under Calipari joining Darnell Dodson (Southern Miss), Stacey Poole (Georgia Tech), Ryan Harrow (Georgia State), Kyle Wiltjer (Gonzaga), Marcus Lee (California), Charles Matthews (Michigan), Sacha Killeya-Jones (NC State), Tai Wynyard (Santa Clara), Jemarl Baker (Arizona), Quade Green (Washington), Brad Calipari (Detroit), Johnny Juzang (UCLA), Devin Askew (Texas), and Cam’Ron Fletcher (Florida State).
No wonder his teams are alwasy "so young" or "so inexperienced"
That is over 1 transfer out per year.
How sad it is for the fans.
Dontaie is a shooter & a coach simply MUST give pure shooters a looong rope. Yanking talents like Dontaie and Johny Juzang after a missed shot or 1 mistake destroys this type of player. Calipari has, over the last ten years, taken one Hoosier, 1 kid from Kentucky, and no Buckeyes. Gotta be an idiot to accomplish that! Only 11 years ago, every center on Duke, Notre Dame, IU, and UNC were from 2 Indiana families: Zellers& Plumlees. So, go ahead Calipari, hate on Kentucky, Indiana , and Ohio.
Whatever happened to coaches who help pure shooters get open? Remember all the screens Bob Knight had set for Steve Alford? Remember players like Turpin, Robey, & Phillips setting screens for players like Masters, Givens, and Macey? Cal runs NOTHING! Help a pure shooter like Dontaie get open? Cal doesn’t even know what it means to set up an offense!
Huge problem with Cal: he’s addicted to Rivals.com and 24/7Sports.com. If you’re not a 5-star on those sites, you’re not worth anything.