When a prospect goes through the recruiting cycle and has garnered eight different offers from programs in the same league, it feels a little extra special for a college head coach when he lands that prospect.
Illinois State coach Ryan Pedon is that coach feeling a little extra special.
Nick Allen of Bradley-Bourbonnais has committed to Pedon and the Redbirds. The 6-10 big man had a dozen-plus offers, including eight from Missouri Valley Conference schools. He was scheduled to visit MVC schools Drake and Murray State in the coming weeks but ended his recruitment following an official visit this past weekend.
“I was planning on taking more visits,” Allen said. “But after taking my visit, feeling the family atmosphere and being around the guys there and the coaches, I was inspired and was totally bought in. Coach Pedon is a great person, and I loved the view he had of my game and development.”
Allen admits Illinois State was on the back burner initially, saying “they weren’t really in my top three or four schools in the beginning.”
But persistence paid off. Allen said Pedon and the Redbirds staff, who had been on him since his sophomore year, remained consistent. Their approach eventually stood out.
“They reached out after every game I played, and I really got to know them and what they are all about,” Allen said.
There was even a moment that stood out to Allen during the recruiting process that pushed ISU near the top.
“I was coming off what I thought was a pretty bad spring AAU season, and it was just something he [coach Pedon] said to my dad, actually,” Allen said.
As Pedon was talking with Allen’s dad, Scott, he mentioned that the last time he talked to Nick on the phone he could tell that his son was pretty down about how he had played in recent weeks.
“He told my dad that the evaluation process is done and we love Nick,” Allen said of Pedon’s perspective in that spring conversation. “We are here for him and we aren’t going anywhere. We are going to be there for him in his highest and lowest. That opened my eyes a little at that time. They were at my best and worst games and they never wavered.”
Allen's tools are enticing for a player with legitL big man size. He has a back-to-the-basket game with growing confidence and assertiveness with his footwork, feel and touch around the rim.
Allen is among the top dozen prospects in the Class of 2025. He was a Sun-Times All-Area pick AP All-State selection as a junior. And he’s a recruiting coup for a mid-major program.
Landing a quality 5-man who isn’t simply a developmental project but accomplished and productive is a big recruiting win for the Redbirds. As a junior this past season he averaged an impressive 19 points and nine rebounds a game.
“I am just happy I found the right place and made the right decision,” Allen said.
