Winning A-10 championship main focus for newest Dayton recruit

“My dad said the lord God gave it to him,” Allen said. “My older sister’s name is Marvellous. His name is Marvin.”

Allen’s first name is not pronounced MAAR-vl, as in Marvel Studios, but as Mar-VELL. Fans of the Dayton Flyers could hear his name often at UD Arena in the 2023-24 season. Allen, a 6-foot-4 guard from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., committed to UD on Monday, two days after finishing a visit to campus.

Allen becomes the sixth member of Dayton’s 2023 recruiting class, which includes three transfers and three incoming freshmen and could include as many as two or three more players. He made his decision in part because of the relationships he built with Dayton head coach Anthony Grant and assistant coach James Kane. He said Dayton recruited him when he was a freshman and started again when Georgetown released him from his signed letter of intent in April.

Kane, who is from south Florida, like Grant, has known Cilk McSweeney, who coached Allen in his sophomore and junior years at Calvary Christian High School, since they were both in high school.

“A lot of connections, a lot of people who know each other,” Allen said, “so there’s just a lot of trust in that area.”

“We grew up with each other,” McSweeney said of Kane. “The family trusts me. They knew this was the best place for him.”

Allen played varsity basketball at The Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Fla., as an eighth grader. He spent his freshman year at Wellington High School, just west of West Palm Beach, Fla. He then transferred to Calvary Christian Academy, 50 miles south in Fort Lauderdale, to play on a bigger stage.

“You only get a chance to play on a national stage when you have ranked kids on your (high school) team,” his dad told the Palm Beach Post at the time. “College coaches come to watch those kids; and if you do really well, now you become the spotlight. That’s one of the biggest reasons we’re at Calvary. We’re shooting for a high major.”

Allen helped lead Calvary Christian to back-to-back 4A state championships in Florida in 2021 and 2022. In 26 games as a junior, he averaged 13.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

Allen announced his decision to transfer to Montverde Academy, near Orlando, in May of 2022. Last season, he played on a team that included three top-40 2023 recruits and four top-100 2024 recruits.Montverde was the second-ranked program in the nation, according to MaxPreps.com.

Allen battled an injury before last season but was healthy during the season.

“I just couldn’t get in the rotation,” Allen said. “I missed my opportunity, but it’s all good. I was in practice working every day. I’m still the same guy. I’m ready to show a lot of people what they missed out on this year.”

Allen’s recruiting ranking dropped over the last year. He was No. 9 in the nation in the class of 2023 in June of 2021, No. 18 a year ago and No. 52 last fall, according to Rivals, which now ranks him 100th. He ranks 135th in the 247Sports.com composite rankings. He’s No. 149 in the On3.com rankings.

McSweeney said even though Allen didn’t get a chance to play much at Montverde, Dayton is getting a top-25 recruit.

“Offensively, he’s a great downhill guard,” McSweeney said. “He’s strong. He’s like 200 pounds and built like a linebacker. He’s special defensively. He’s definitely going to be a special player.”

Dayton is the third school Allen has committed to. Here’s a timeline of his decisions:

• Allen originally committed to LSU in January 2022. He picked the school from a list of final eight schools that included Alabama, Arizona State, Georgia, Kansas, Memphis, Maryland and Ohio State.

• LSU fired Will Wade on March 12, 2022. Allen reopened his recruitment a week later.

• Allen committed to Georgetown last July, following Kevin Nickelberry, who had been his lead recruiter at LSU until joining Patrick Ewing’s staff. He picked the Hoyas over Michigan, Kansas, Arizona State, LSU and Texas A&M.

When Allen signed with Georgetown in November, Ewing described him as “a two-way player who is physical and tremendous both offensively and defensively and he adds size and physicality to the backcourt.”

• Georgetown fired Ewing on March 9 and hired Providence’s Ed Cooley. Allen was released from his signed letter of intent on April 28.

Dayton was the only school Allen visited during this stage of the recruiting process.

“They say the third time’s the charm,” he said.

Allen joins a growing group of guards who will compete for playing time next season.

“I have faith and I have trust in coach Grant and the coaching staff,” Allen said. “Whoever’s there is going to work. We’re going to win an A-10 championship. That’s the main thing. That’s the main focus. It’s a very unselfish group of guys. People are not worrying about who’s going to be doing this, who’s gonna be doing that. We’ve all got the same goal, and that’s just winning the A-10 championship and making a run for the natty.”