The best individual performance this year was turned in by one of the state's elite young prospects - Desert Ridge High School's 6-foot-5, 205-pound sophomore wing Timmy Allen. Last week, in a 75-65 win over Desert Vista High School, Allen poured in an impressive game-high 39 points and 18 rebounds. Allen's performance caught the attention of numerous different high-major division-I programs, and this weekend Allen would receive a scholarship offer from Arizona State University.
The Sun Devils have had a terrific season thus far behind the leadership of first-year head coach Bob Hurley, and now the Sun Devils are setting their sights on the future of their program - looking for top-rated talent in the state of Arizona and abroad. This weekend, ASU made their case for Allen early - offering the gifted sophomore prospect.
Allen is now regarded among the top overall 2018 prospects in the country, as he recently received a Top-25 ranking in the class by several national scouting services. Allen has also received loads of college recruiting interest already from different mid-major college programs, with many more offers looming on the horizon. Allen also currently holds offers from Nebraska, New Mexico State, Portland State and Grand Canyon.
Look for Allen to begin to receive many more offers very soon as more college coaches catch a glimpse of him, and realize his potential for the future.
Allen is a very skilled wing prospect with a superb overall feel for the game. He is able to create shots for himself or others almost at will. He is a passive scorer at this point in his young career, as he turns it on when he wants to offensively, but is able to make plays when he wants - capable of scoring inside and out and with ease. He is very smooth and has a nice perimeter shooting stroke with range. He is a very good ball handler and passer, making it very difficult for opposing teams to slow him down once he makes up his mind to get going.
Allen is also a very good rebounder with a very good body that allows him to gain good inside position for nice offensive put-backs and rebounds. He gets a lot of his points in thsi manner, especially when you consider his long arms and wingspan that allows him to keep balls alive and extend past his opponents.
Allen has quickly developed into one of the state's top overall prospects, and while his team still has some work to do to compete each night, Allen is doing a lot to make himself heard and known in the basketball community.
