Contributing Reporter
Can anyone replace the dominating defense, banging on the boards, and sheer physical presence of Scooter Banks? At 6-8 and 230 pounds, junior Sean Allen is by far the strongest physical specimen on our basketball squad. Deacon fans have not seen much of Allen but have heard great things about him. A lot of weight is going to be placed on Allen's broad shoulders this year as he tries to fill the enormous shoes of one of the fans' favorite players last year in Banks.
Allen transferred to the university last year to provide some quality backup at power forward for junior Ricky Peral and Banks. The addition of Allen into the lineup in no way depleted the Deacons' height and strength.
Allen looked promising last year, scoring four points and grabbing five rebounds in 14 minutes in his first game as a Deacon against Florida State. He played briefly in the Deacons' next three games, despite showing noticeable signs in practice and games of extreme fatigue. He was diagnosed with mononucleosis in mid-January and applied for a medical redshirt. He qualified for the redshirt and has two years of eligibility left.
Allen is just the second player, along with Derrick Hicks, '93, to join the Demon Deacon basketball team from a junior college during Dave Odom's head coaching era. They both came from Anderson Junior College in S.C., the No. 1 ranked team in junior colleges two years ago. Allen averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds per game for that championship team.
Allen came to play for the Demon Deacons because of the university's excellent academic reputation, and he wanted to be close to home, in Knightdale. He is not only going to be dealing with challenging academics, but he will be thrown into big-time ACC basketball, joining the Deacons' powerful frontcourt of Peral and All-American Tim Duncan.
This trio of juniors averages 6-9 and 220 pounds, a formidable "tree"some that should be able to stand up to and dominate any, if not all, ACC and national foes. Allen fits into this scheme as a big body capable of pushing guys off the block so that he, Duncan or Peral can grab the rebound. In practice and his brief Demon Deacon hoops stint, Allen has also shown solid defending skills and an uncanny passing touch for a big man