The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Men's Basketball Announces Signing Of Derrick Allen
4/12/2000 | Men's Basketball
April 12, 2000
OXFORD, Miss. - Derrick Allen, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward from Gadsden, Ala., has signed a national letter of intent to attend Ole Miss beginning in the 2000-01 academic year, announced Rebel head coach Rod Barnes on Wednesday. Allen is the fourth signee of the Rebels' 2000-01 class, as Aaron Harper, Justin Reed and David Sanders inked with Ole Miss in the early signing period in November.
"Derrick is a hard-nosed player who is going to be able to play two positions for us at the four (power forward) or five (post)," said Barnes, who completed his second season at Ole Miss in 1999-2000. "He will give us depth at both positions. Derrick will bring inside toughness and inside scoring to our team. His work ethic is tremendous, and we think Derrick is a good fit for our squad.
"Another positive about Derrick is that he only began playing basketball as a high school sophomore, and he still has a lot of room to grow and mature as a player. Derrick comes from a great basketball program at Southern Union State, where he played for Ron Radford. Everybody we talked with at Southern Union State loves Derrick, and thinks he is a super individual. We are very excited that Derrick is joining our program."
Allen played the last two years at Southern Union State Community College in Wadley, Ala. This past season, Allen was named the Alabama Junior Community College Conference (AJCCC) Player of the Year. He also earned National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-America second team, All-AJCCC first team, All-Region 22 first team and Region 22 All-Tournament Team honors.
He led the Bison squad in scoring (19.1 ppg), rebounding (9.7 rpg) and field goal percentage (52.6) in 1999-2000. Allen, who also had 39 assists, 10 blocked shots and 38 steals, led the Bison to a 23-5 overall record this past year.
As a freshman in 1998-99, Allen averaged 18.3 points and 7.9 rebounds, while shooting 57 percent from the field. He earned All-Region 22 first team honors and was also named to the Georgia Perimeter College Invitational All-Tournament team. Allen was a member of the Bison squad that posted a 23-12 overall record and advanced to the NJCAA national tournament quarterfinals.
Prior to his junior college career at Southern Union State, Allen played at Gadsden High School.
The Rebels finished their 1999-2000 season with a 19-14 overall record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The winning campaign and postseason tournament berth was the program's fourth straight.
