Allen was not in uniform for either of Dayton’s exhibition games.
After the Xavier game on Oct 20, coach Anthony Grant said, “Marvel has not been cleared to practice. I think we should hopefully get some final ideas in terms of what his availability is going to be within the next week or two weeks.”
After the Ashland game on Saturday, Grant said, “Marvel is probably going to have to have another procedure done,” Grant said. “We’ll get more information over the next week or so, but I think it’s trending toward that.”
This will be the second straight season Allen has missed. He dislocated his left kneecap in practice the week before the 2023-24 season opener. He returned to practice Nov. 12, but by that time, he had missed so much practice time, the coaches decided to redshirt him.
“I want to play, but unfortunately for me with the injury, the best thing for me was to redshirt,” Allen said in March. “It’s just been a learning experience. Seeing the system, learning where I can fit in and just practicing the routines daily.”
Allen helped the team in practice after returning from his injury but was again sidelined by a left knee problem in the spring and did not participate in practices this summer. He said in July he was not sure if the injury was related to the dislocated kneecap he suffered.
Allen underwent arthroscopic surgery in early June to clean up the knee. He expected to return to action in August, but Grant said in October that Allen had setbacks.
Allen committed to Dayton in May 2023 after twice reopening his recruitment when his first choices (LSU and Georgetown) fired their coaches. He ranked 104th in the class of 2023, according to Rivals.com.
Allen attended Montverde Academy, the second-ranked prep program in the nation when he was a senior, and struggled to find playing time after coming off an injury. He saw action in 10 of the team’s 25 games.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
The loss of Allen leaves Dayton with 12 scholarship players on the 2024-25 roster. One of them, former walk-on Brady Uhl, is currently sidelined by a sprained ankle.
This will be the fourth time in Grant’s eight seasons, a player has missed the season with an injury:
• In 2017-18, Ryan Mikesell missed the entire season after undergoing offseason surgeries on both hips.
• In 2020-21, Dwayne Cohill suffered a torn ACL in the preseason and missed the entire season.
• Last season, Malachi Smith suffered a knee injury in the first half of the season opener and missed the rest of the season.
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