Huskers land top JUCO scorer Teddy Allen
An impressive weekend for Nebraska basketball got even better on Tuesday, as the Huskers landed a commitment from 2020 Western Nebraska C.C. shooting guard Teddy Allen during his unofficial visit.
Allen, who sat behind NU’s bench for its 70-56 upset of Purdue, confirmed his commitment to HuskerOnline.com on Tuesday afternoon.
“What drew me to Nebraska was - I went to Boys Town, and Omaha - ever since my mom passed - it’s been home for me,” Allen said. “It’s where I’m comfortable, it’s where I feel the most successful in my life, and it’s just where I want to be.”
A native of Mesa, Ariz., who moved to Omaha to attend Boys Town as a junior, Allen has emerged as one of the elite scorers in the junior college ranks this season.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound redshirt sophomore is currently averaging a whopping 32.0 points per game while shooting 54.1 percent from the field, 42.5 percent from 3-point range, and 89.6 percent from the free-throw line.
He’s also averaging 7.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game for the 9-5 Cougars. Allen was recently rated as the No. 10 player in the initial 2020 JucoRecruiting.com Top 100 Player Rankings.
Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg and lead recruiter Matt Abdelmassih first went to Scottsbluff to see Allen back in September, and they were immediately sold on Allen being a perfect fit in the Huskers’ system.
“That showed me that they believed in me and they had an idea, at least, of the type of person that I was,” Allen said. “That just meant a lot that they believed in me early… Just with the way Coach Hoiberg does things, (fitting in at NU) should be pretty seamless because he likes to score the ball, defend, play hard – all the things that I like to do.
“Especially watching them play (on Sunday), I feel like I could come in and get in where I fit in, because Coach seems like if you play hard for him, he’ll give you leeway to just play. Every player wants that.”
A prolific scorer in high school who earned the nickname “Teddy Buckets,” Allen was named the 2017 Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 31.6 points and 13.0 rebounds per game as a senior at Boys Town.
He became the first player in the state to average more than 30 ppg since 1996.
Prior to his senior year, Allen signed with West Virginia over other offers from Iowa State, Cincinnati, DePaul, and Omaha. He averaged 7.0 points and 2.7 rebounds while playing in 35 of 37 games as a true freshman for the Mountaineers, helping WVU advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Allen transferred to Wichita State and sat out the 2018-19 season, but he never played a game for the Shockers. He was dismissed from the school in June after being arrested and charged with two misdemeanors following an incident at a woman’s home.
He ended up at Western Nebraska in July and has flourished since. Along with Nebraska, Allen had been getting interest from schools like Florida State, Utah, Utah State, Boise State, and New Mexico State. His younger brother, Timmy Allen, is a sophomore at Utah.
Allen joins Lincoln (Neb.) North Star guard Donovan Williams has Nebraska’s second 2020 commit. The Huskers currently have one remaining open scholarship for the ’20-21 season.