Jarrett Allen represents Texas in its pursuit of Mohamed Bamba
Right now in Chicago, Illinois, top college and international basketball players are at the NBA Draft Combine trying to turn heads and impress NBA personnel. Through their play, workouts, meetings, and more they’re attempting to prove who they are as people and as basketball players. Jarrett Allen is one of them.
He’s representing more than just himself, though.
The 6-11 Round Rock native is representing the Texas program, and is aiming to become yet another NBA lottery pick that emerges as a standout in the NBA. Allen is also about to join an incredible network of professionals worldwide that share his link to the University of Texas.
“They all know coach (Shaka) Smart,” he said about the people in the professional world he’s encountered since officially turning pro and signing with an agent. “I’ve met a few alumni people that were like, ‘Oh hey, I went to UT too. It’s nice to meet a fellow alum.’ So, the Texas Longhorn pride reaches worldwide. I’ve noticed it.”
But it goes deeper than that. Specifically, Allen is representing Texas in its pursuit of five-star 2017 big man Mohamed Bamba, who next year will be where Allen is right now.
“We feel like we have a lot to offer. We feel like Jarrett is a really, really good testament to what happens if you come in here and you work hard, you develop, you grow, and you follow our plan,” Shaka Smart said in April about wanting to add more to his current 2017 recruiting class. “We’re going to keep working on it.”
Allen is Smart’s shining beacon in the coach’s pursuit of the nation’s best, one-and-done-types of players. This year, that player is Bamba, and the Longhorns are very much in the hunt.
At this point last year, Smart and the Longhorns were working on Allen. A five-star prospect from St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in the Austin area, Allen took his recruitment to the wire before committing to Texas June 2nd, and then immediately moving in at UT. Rated as the No. 15 prospect overall, Allen obviously had choices, including official visits to Kansas and Kentucky. But the Longhorns won in the end, and even though the wins and losses didn’t amount to what Allen or Texas wanted during the 2016-17 season, the big man emerged as one of the best players in the Big 12, and one of the top freshmen nationally. He’s now projected to be a lottery pick, and one of the first big men selected in the upcoming NBA Draft.
The plan for Allen at Texas never changed – come be the focal point of a program that wants to work inside-out offensively.
“I think when we look at scoring it starts with trying to get the ball inside and trying to play fast in transition. If we can create some baskets in transition with athleticism and quickness, that’s a good thing. If we can get the ball inside and play through those guys, I think that can be a good thing for us. We want to be even more inside-out than last year between throwing it to Shaq, throwing it to Jarrett (Allen) those guys can make good plays and they’re also very unselfish,” Smart said about the Texas offense prior to the 2016-17 season. “We want to get the ball to them and let them play from there. Again, they’re very wiling passers so I’m excited to get them the ball early and often.”
That’s what Allen heard throughout his recruitment, and that’s what happened when he arrived on the 40 Acres.
“Sometimes being recruited by colleges you think coaches just say things to recruit you and get you there. Everything coach Smart said about, ‘Oh, we’re going to look in; we’re going to get you the ball’ he followed through with everything,” said Allen, who added the Texas coaches should be trusted. "They're truthful. They're going to work with you, and make sure you're the best you can be."
Smart has been in Austin for two years, and he’s proven his words aren’t just for show. Texas has been an inside-outside team on offense, and wants to continue to be. It began with Cameron Ridley during the 2015-16 season, who had career-highs in usage rate (27.5 percent; 5.6 percent higher than next closest number) and shots attempted (23.4 percent; 5.0 percent more than net closest number) before his injury. Instead of moving away from that because of the Ridley injury, Smart adjusted by developing and using Prince Ibeh more on offense. Ibeh eventually became the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
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Last season, it was Allen. He ranked in the top 10 during Big 12 play in percentage of possessions used, true shooting percentage, effective field goal percentage, offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding percentage, blocked shot percentage, minutes played, and free throw rate. Even as opposing teams started building scouting reports around defending Allen, Texas fed him the ball and worked on expanding his game to the short corner, mid-range, and even out to three-point range. As the competition increased, so did Allen’s scoring – he failed to crack double-digits six times in the first 14 games, and followed that by doing it just twice over the following 17 contests.
As Allen’s skill and talent began to show more often, it was mentally where Texas helped him most. “I think they helped me with the mental side of basketball. When you learn more about the mental side it helps you physically while you’re playing. They helped me learn that not everything is going to go your way,” stated Allen. “You can’t control the things that are out of your hands, so don’t worry about them.”
Relative to other premier big men nationally that played more than half their team’s minutes, Allen’s usage and shots percentages were hard to top. It’s easier to find five-star freshmen bigs last season that barely played than ones that were constantly fed the ball. Now, there is a huge void because of Allen’s departure.
The Longhorns have the surrounding pieces, especially if Andrew Jones returns to school, as expected. They now have their point guard, Matt Coleman. Dylan Osetkowski is a true inside-outside big that can compliment a four or a five. James Banks, a team USA U18 teammate with Bamba last summer, is a developing, high-energy big, but isn’t ready to shoulder a significant load on offense. Incoming freshman Jase Febres will immediately add shooting, and Kerwin Roach, Jr., Jacob Young, and Eric Davis, Jr. can only move forward. Royce Hamm and Jericho Sims are bouncy, athletic forwards that can play away from the paint.
“Matt Coleman is a pure point guard. He orchestrates offense, he gets other guys shots, he makes everyone around him better,” Smart said on the day Coleman signed in April. “He’s one of those guys when he’s on the floor anyone else playing with him takes a step forward and that’s regardless of what position he’s playing.”
Frankly, the roster is in significantly better shape than it was last season. Texas will have three experienced juniors, including Osetkowski, an ideal compliment to any frontcourt player. It'll have experienced sophomores, talented freshmen, but lacks the frontcourt scoring option Smart so desperately wants to build his team around. Because there is a hole to fill in the departure of Allen what isn’t present is a logjam for touches, especially in the frontcourt. For example, Kentucky could have eight five-star prospects on its 2017-18 roster, including six that are 6-7 or taller.
Rather than try to persuade Allen to stick around, Smart helped Allen any way he could.
“First of all, he always told me, ‘Jarrett, I’m always going to support any decision you’re going to make. I’m always here for any information or questions you want to ask.’ So, he was always supportive this whole draft process,” Allen said about how Smart helped him through the draft decision. “Any way he could try to help, he did it.”
Smart welcomes the opportunity to recruit and coach kids like Allen. Although it’s a new frontier for him as the Texas head coach, he’s not naïve when it comes to the goals and aspirations of five-star talents.
“One thing I really appreciate about Jarrett, is when he came in, just like all our guys I asked him what is your goal? He told me I want to have the best possible freshman year that I can, and I want to really get better and learn and grow. That’s what he did,” Texas’s head coach stated. “He made a lot of progress. He learned a great deal. Earlier in the year in December and before that he had some times where he took some lumps like any other freshman. But he never allowed that to take away from his process of learning and growing, acquiring information about what goes into being a good player. Now here he is with a chance to be a very high draft pick, which to me, if you can help a guy become the best version of himself during his time here that’s a big part of our job.”
Now, a big part of Smart’s job is finding a frontcourt player to be his next featured big, and convincing the best 2017 prospect available he's that guy.