Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: Allison Gives Herd Hoops a Portsmouth Presence
6/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - When Ky're Allison takes the floor as a Marshall men's basketball rookie next season, he will be wearing No. 5.
Maybe the freshman point guard really should have 52 - the number on the U.S. highway that connects his nearby southern Ohio hometown with Herdland.
"It's close to home, right down the road," Allison said last week after reporting for his NCAA Division I hoops introduction. "I really liked the program. I liked the coaching staff; they made me feel at home, too. They'll want me to succeed athletically and academically. And this close, I'll be able to have same type of support I did in high school."
Allison was the All-Ohio Division III co-Player of the Year last season at Portsmouth High School. And although the Marshall campus is only 47 miles from his hometown, he's the first Herd hoops scholarship player from Portsmouth since guard Kyle Taylor joined the late Coach Rick Huckabay's program in 1984-85.
Taylor didn't last long in a Herd uniform, however. As a 1985-86 sophomore starter, he quit the team during halftime of an early season game at Ohio's Convocation Center, eventually landed at Xavier and then left the Musketeers' program after one season, too. But he did play in two NCAA Tournaments in his career, one at each stop.
Allison is planning to give the Herd more of a Portsmouth presence.
The 6-foot-1 guard didn't get a lot of recruiting attention in his junior year after suffering a broken leg in the spring of 2014. This past season, the Herd and assistant coach Mark Cline began paying more attention to Allison - but he already had Coach Dan D'Antoni's program on his radar.
That was partially the result of the emergence of another southern Ohioan. Now, redshirt senior Austin Loop will be Allison's teammate.
"Actually, I started looking at (Marshall) when (PHS) Coach (Gene) Collins put a poster up of Loop and then after that, he just took off. He was a walk-on, and then he just got in the lineup (in 2014-15) and he just took over, and coach had put that poster up.
"And before every game -- before we ran out on the floor - we had to look at it, because Loop was from our area. That's when I really got interested. I figured if he could be from our area and do this, I could, too.
"They saw I could both score and pass the ball. I showed them I'm versatile. They needed a backup point guard who could do those things and they have faith I can do that."
Allison certainly had the genes for it. His parents, Corey Allison and Nikki Jackson, played college basketball at Shawnee State.
The elder Allison was a two-year starter (1994-95 and '95-96) who averaged 15.8 points in 60 games after transferring from Owens Community College in Toledo - the same JUCO program that produced 2015-16 Herd seniors James Kelly and Justin Edmonds. Jackson played 62 games in '93-94 and '94-95 at Shawnee, averaging 4.8 points and 10.1 minutes per game.
Allison said his focus was basketball in high school, but in his earlier years he played quarterback and wide receiver in youth football and in baseball was a pitcher and first baseman.
"Honestly, I think football was my best sport," he said, grinning, "but my family is all about basketball."
The Herd newcomer finished his PHS career with a school-record 1,688 points to go with 656 rebounds, 322 assists and 204 steals. As a senior, he improved his scoring average from 18.1 to 21.5 points per game and he had six games of 30 or more points.
"He's the type of player to pass first and score later, but he can do both," D'Antoni said of the southpaw playmaker who figures to begin his career as the backup to returning starter and junior Jon Elmore.
"They like to score, love the pick-and-roll," the 18-year-old Allison said of his new team. "I like to pass the ball. I love assists. I'd rather pass and see my teammates score before I do, any day. It's run up and down, play defense, shoot threes.
"My strength is passing, getting teammates involved. I can drive and dish, I can shoot. I've got to work on my right hand, ball-handling and my court vision, getting used to new teammates. I think being left-handed is a big advantage because people are always trying to make people go to their left. Well, that's natural for me. They can let me go left ââ'¬Â¦ not a problem."
Collins said Allison fits the Herd's oft-frenetic style of attack "because he's highly skilled, a good athlete and he's versatile and he knows how to play ââ'¬Â¦ and he can get to the basket. He'll be a good teammate. He is the most selfless player I have coached in my 26 years of coaching. The biggest thing for him is winning."
Allison is among five newcomers joining D'Antoni's program for 2016-17. Besides the Portsmouth guard, the other new scholarship signees are 6-6 Phil Bledsoe of Wheeling and 6-8 Jannson Williams of Newnan, Ga.
Former Greenbrier East High star Rondale Watson moves in as a transfer after two seasons at Wake Forest, and the 6-3 guard will sit out 2016-17 and have two seasons of eligibility remaining. The other new face is walk-on Ot Elmore of Charleston. The older brother of the Herd starting point guard arrives at Marshall as a redshirt junior and graduate transfer from Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
The other new face who will be in uniform this coming season is 2015-16 signee Christian Thieneman, a forward from Louisville, Ky., who redshirted last season.
Allison said he also received interest primarily from Ohio, Toledo and North Carolina A&T. Wichita State made a late entry, but he was sold on the Herd.
Now, since his arrival on campus last Monday, he's become immersed in the Herd program only two weeks after his high school graduation.
"It's a big change; it's really different," said Allison, who said he'd like to major in sports management. "In high school, it was just like 'free.' Now, you've got to work. You've got to get into the gym. You've got to get stronger. You've got classes, study hall.
"And there's stuff, too, other than basketball and school. You've got to be on time for everything, and on point. You have to know how to manage your time, be organized, get your rest. Take care of your body.
"It's a big change, a little challenging, but I'm looking forward to it. It's the next step."
