Josh Allen: The Legend Begins

[bababooey76]

(Voice of VMI Basketball, Wade Branner)

Wade: And that will do it folks. The Keydets lose in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament to UCLA 91-69. Nothing to be ashamed of. VMI will finish the season at 21-8.
The VMI fans that made the trip give Coach Allen a standing ovation, Coach Allen acknowledges them, as they know that this is probably his final game as Head Coach as the takes he next step in his bright future.
Coach Allen put this program on the map, taking the program to the NCAA tournament in 9 of his 10 seasons, 7 conference titles, 8 conference tournament championships, and 7 straight conference Coach of the Year awards.
Thanks Coach Allen, we will be back with the wrap up after these words.

[bababooey76]

Allen Returns to Terre Haute as Sycamores New Head Coach


By:Bababooey76

The Indiana State Sycamores have their new Head Basketball Coach, and he is a Sycamore Alum. 35 year old Josh Allen, who graduated from ISU, and served as a volunteer Assistant Coach to Kevin McKenna, who he is replacing after McKenna's firing in April.

I sat down for an exclusive one on one interview with Coach Allen after the press conference announcing his hiring.

BB76:Coach Allen, welcome back to Terre Haute

JA:Thank you. It is really nice to be back home in Sycamore country.

BB76:Coach, you did a tremendous job in 10 years at VMI....9
NCAA berths in 10 seasons, 7 Conference titles.....you have had a lot of mid-major schools after for the past few years....what took you so long to take that next step in your career?

JA: Well, that's a question I have heard a lot over the years. Quite frankly, Lexington became my home. I loved the area, I loved my job at VMI, I loved the people I worked for and worked with....and I felt like I had more to accomplish. It is very hard to tell a group of kids who you worked so hard to recruit that you are leaving them.....that's something that always played into it as well, but I knew some day that I would have to take that next step, and I felt like after we finally got out of the NCAA 1st round this past season, I had accomplished probably all I could at VMI, I left the program in much better shape than it was in when I took over and it was time to move in.

BB76: There were a lot of offers for you, many from other MVC schools like Creighton and Wichita State, as well as another Indiana school in Butler right up the road in Indianapolis....Why did you choose coming back to Terre Haute?

JA: Growing up, all I ever wanted to do was coach college basketball at Indiana State or at Indiana University. I was and am a huge admirer of Bob Knight and his style of coaching, I use a lot of his drills in practice, and I idolized Larry Bird who led this 1979 Sycamore team to the finals. I get to realize one of my dreams.

I always felt this program underachieved and was under appreciated in the community with Indiana University on 50 miles away and Purdue also being relatively close. Terre Haute has something right here for them to cheer for and I think having the opportunity to be the reason to this town gets interested in this program again was very exciting to my family and myself.

BB76: What can the fans of Sycamore Basketball expect from the Josh Allen basketball program

JA: We are gonna have kids who number one, are student athletes. I want a kid who thinks an education is just as important as playing basketball. A kid who knows basketball is one of their classes at college and are determined to graduate. My players graduate and part of my job as a basketball coach, a basketball teacher, is making sure my students graduate.

On the court, it is not going to happen over night. We are not going to come in and win a MVC title in year one. We need 2 or 3 seasons to get the kind of players we need, and the goal is to improve with each year. The ultimate goal is to make this program a contender every year in the MVC. We have not had a NCAA birth since 2001, 16 years, and that is unacceptable, and that is what I vow to change.

BB76:Coach Allen, best of luck....you have a lot of Sycamore fans very excited about the future of the basketball program.

JA: Thank you.....Go Sycamores!

[bababooey76]

Head Coach: Josh Allen

Coaching Career

Year Record
VMI
07-08 25-5, Big South Champ, NCAA 1st Rd
08-09 13-12
09-10 17-11 Big South Tourn. Champ, NCAA 1st Rd
10-11 16-13 Big South Tourn. Champ, NCAA 1st Rd
11-12 23-7 Big South Champ, Big South Tourn. Champ, NCAA 1st
12-13 23-7 Big South Champ, Big South Tourn. Champ, NCAA 1st
13-14 26-4 Big South Champ, Big South Tourn. Champ, NCAA 1st
14-15 18-10 Big South Champ, Big South Tourn. Champ, NCAA 1st
15-16 21-6 Big South Champ, Big South Tourn. Champ, NCAA 1st
16-17 21-8 Big South Champ, Big South Tourn. Champ, NCAA 1st

Win 203
Loss 83
7 Straight Big South Coach of the Year Awards

[bababooey76]

2017-2018 Indiana State University Sycamores Men's Basketball Team


Josh Allen
Head Coach 1st Season


#50 Jimmy Olsen C
SR 7'1" 288 lbs
75 ovr

#11 Timmy McCoy SG
JR 6'5" 194 lbs
74 ovr

#1 Clarence Kohn PG/SG
JR 6'6" 240 lbs
73 ovr

#22 Hendrik Nguyen SF
SO 6'7" 208 lbs
70 ovr

#14 Igor Riggs SG
JR 6'7" 222 lbs
70 ovr

#23 Jarred Queen SF
JR 6'8" 226 lbs
70 ovr

#31 Shane Bass PF
JR 6'8" 214 lbs
67 ovr

#54 Martynas Prekevicius PF
FR 6'7" 224 lbs
64 ovr

#12 V.J. Norris PF
SR 6'9" 231 lbs
58 ovr

#10 Houston Dumert SF
SO 6'8" 224 lbs
55 ovr

#24 Ismail Filipovic SF
SO 6'5" 210 lbs
54 ovr

#34 Trevoy Czerny SF
JR 6'4" 201 lbs
54 ovr

#13 Reginald Irvin SF
FR 6'7" 203 lbs
54 ovr

#20 Andrew Boyd SG
SO 6'3" 182 lbs
53 ovr

#3 Jeremee Lewis PG
FR 6'2" 194 lbs
48 ovr

#32 Calvin Lindsey PG
FR 6'1" 194 lbs
46 ovr

[bababooey76]

2017-2018 Sycamores Schedule

11/4 Gonzaga
11/5 Chicago St
11/18@Wright St
11/24 Prairie View (Drake Invitational)
11/29 Nebraska
12/1 CSU Bakersfield (Regency Tournarment)
12/9 @#23 Iowa
12/15@ S.Illinois
12/19 Evansville
12/23 @Missouri St
12/31 Bradley
1/3 Drake
1/7 @Wichita St
1/12 Creighton
1/16 @N.Iowa
1/21 Illinois St
1/25 N.Iowa
1/30 @Bradley
2/4 @Creighton
2/9 Missouri St.
2/13 @Evansville
2/17 @Illinois St.
2/21 Wichita St.
2/26 @Drake
3/2 S.Illinois