Four-star shooting guard Dante Allen officially visited Tennessee basketball over the weekend less than a month after including the Vols in his top four. It was Allen’s first visit to Tennessee and allowed him the chance to get a closer look at the Vols’ program.
“Love the place,” Allen told RTI. “Definitely stood out how much people love the place. Can’t say there was one person there who I didn’t hear them say that they love the school and that they picked the school for a reason and that they love every part of it.”
Allen said that no one inside the Tennessee program loves the school more than assistant coach Gregg Polinsky. Polinsky is Tennessee’s lead recruiter for Allen and has “kept after” him throughout the recruiting process.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound guard did a number of normal activities on his visit including touring the basketball facility and dorms. But Allen’s favorite part of the visit was spending time with the current Tennessee players.
“They were welcoming. They weren’t keeping to themselves. They were cool to me,” Allen said. “I see that they enjoyed having me around and they were just cool people. They are guys that if I was going to school with them it wouldn’t be where I’m trying to find new friends. Those are guys that I would definitely want to be around a lot.”
Allen ranks as a four-star recruit and the No. 77 player in the country according to the 247sports composite rankings. He’s down to a top four that includes Georgia, Notre Dame and Villanova as well as Tennessee.
The strong guard’s official visit afforded him the opportunity to get closer to Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes. Allen already knew plenty about Barnes’ successful coaching career and accolades but he learned more about Barnes the person on his weekend visit.
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“Coach Barnes is a well known Hall of Fame coach and is well respected in the entire basketball world really,” Allen said. “Off the court he is a really cool person to be around. I would say one thing is he really enjoys being with his guys— his coaches and his players. He wants to make sure that it’s not coach-player (relationship) only but that he’s a good adult figure for them and someone they feel comfortable being around.”
Allen feels like his game fits the style of basketball that Tennessee plays. He excels playing off of off-ball screens and takes pride in defense because of how that allows him to impact the game on nights he’s struggling offensively.
“I think one thing that they do a lot is move without the ball,” Allen said. “Be able to come off screens which is something I think I would be good off of. Making reads off of them. They push the ball in transition which is definitely one of my strong suits. They also guard the ball really hard so it’s never going to be an easy or a fun night when you’re coming down the court against them. It’s also something that I try to take as much pride in as possible.”
Allen took an official visit to Notre Dame back in the summer and is officially visiting Georgia this weekend before officially visiting Villanova next month. Dante is the son of former NBA power forward and current Miami Heat assistant coach Malik Allen.
Malik Allen played his college basketball at Villanova, but Dante says he doesn’t feel pressure to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“My parents tell me that it’s my decision to make and that they may have reasons why they think Villanova may be the right school or the basketball team is right for me but at the end of the day, they’re helping me as much as they can with my decision and whatever I feel is right for me, they will be behind me,” Allen said.
As far as a commitment timeline, Allen plans on making his college decision before the end of the calendar year but would also like to see how each team starts its season due to the relatively new head coaches at the three schools he’s considering besides Tennessee.
