Dontaie Allen to Western Kentucky is a win-win for everyone

Dontaie Allen should play more and have more freedom on the court at Western Kentucky. (Photo by Vicky Graff)

Former Kentucky Mr. Basketball Dontaie Allen is going to continue his collegiate career in the Bluegrass.

Allen announced on Twitter Wednesday that he would be transferring from Kentucky to Western Kentucky to play for coach Rick Stansbury, who recruited Allen when he was at Pendleton County High School before Allen picked  UK.

Despite his limited playing time at Kentucky, Allen got a lot of interest after he put his name in the transfer portal on March 24th. West Virginia coach Bob Huggins came to Lexington to see Allen. Louisville and Xavier were mentioned as potential schools for him, too. Wisconsin, Texas A&M and Northern Kentucky were some of the other schools that showed interest.

Allen averaged just 2.2 points and 1.2 rebounds while shooting under 30 percent overall and below 20 percent from 3-point range last season. He played in just 19 of 34 games, averaging just 6.4 minutes per contest. He was buried on the end of the bench after he went 13-for-44 from the field in non-conference games and played just five total minutes in February and March.

Allen was a prolific scorer and rebounder in high school. He hurt his knee midway of his senior season and then was injured in a car accident in the spring. He redshirted his first year at UK and then averaged 5.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 14 minutes per game over 22 appearances, including one start, as a redshirt freshman. He had eight games with two or more 3-pointers. He had 23 points and seven 3’s in a double overtime win at Mississippi State and then had 23 points again with six 3’s in a 74-73 SEC Tournament loss to Mississippi State.

With Iowa transfer C.J. Fredrick injured last season, it seemed Allen’s shooting could be just what UK needed. However, after he missed shots early he was never a factor in coach John Calipari’s playing rotation.

Calipari called him an “incredible teammate” when he put his name into the transfer portal but numerous times he criticized his defense. Others wanted to point out that Allen  may not have fully committed himself to UK this year after Calipari obviously never fully committed to Allen.

Leaving UK was the best move for Allen and I think he found the right home with Western and Stansbury. He will get more chances to play and have more freedom. Stansbury values players who can make shots and this just seems like a win-win for everyone.