2008 Woodie Awards
Allen calls coaching a "great ride," says he almost has to pinch himself
Jake Thompson
Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Sports
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When a spot opened up in IUPUI Coach Ron Hunter's basketball camp for a coach, Price thought of Eric Allen. Price and Allen coached together at Manual High School in Indianapolis and kept in contact afterward.
After the IUPUI basketball camp had finished, where Allen had worked for free, Hunter brought Allen over for a talk.
"He [Hunter] said 'I might have a position open for you,'" Allen said. "I tried to downplay it, but inside I was like, sweet! I happened to have a resume and cover letter out in my car and told him to give me 30 seconds. I came back in and our relationship grew from there."
Allen decided to take advantage of the opportunity, allowing him to accomplish the difficult task of jumping from high school to Division I athletics.
"I am eternally grateful to Coach Hunter," Allen said. "The hardest part about being in Division I basketball is breaking into Division I basketball. It is so hard to get one of the few openings that come about each year."
Coach Hunter says he was happy to get such a quality individual to replace Price on his staff and says he remembers what it was like to break into this level of competition.
"This is a very hard business to get into," Hunter said. "He worked my camp basically for free and really, I was very impressed with that. All of the sudden we had an opening and I didn't even really look much further. Our players are confident with him and he has done an incredible job with the fitness of our kids, which has been a weakness for us."
Allen started by establishing a rigorous strength and conditioning program for the players. Winning the Summit League tournament for any team is difficult because it requires the team to play multiple games in four consecutive days.
That tournament occurs at the end of a physically-demanding season, which makes being in top physical shape before the season a necessity.
"Every one of the players has made tremendous gains, whether it is strength or shedding a few pounds of fat to be at the top of their game," Allen said. "I stress to them that … when it comes down to that conference championship, to get into the NCAA tournament they have to win two or three games in four days. It will usually be the team that is physically and mentally tough and bulls their way through it."
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