Dontaie Allen makes first appearance as Kentucky basketball player vs. Morehead State
Finally, 2019 Mr. Basketball winner Dontaie Allen has made his debut as a Kentucky Wildcat.
Allen — a redshirt freshman from Falmouth — entered UK’s season opener against Morehead State on Wednesday night with 5:05 left in the first half and the Cats leading 32-15. He was the 10th and final healthy scholarship player to get in the game. Sophomore Keion Brooks Jr. was out with an injury.
Less than two minutes into his first UK game, Allen knocked down a three for his first points as a Wildcat. He finished with four points in six minutes on the court, playing about four minutes in the first half and then entering the game for the final 1:58 of the second half in the Cats’ 81-45 victory.
It was Allen’s first action as a Kentucky basketball player after missing all of last season while rehabbing a knee injury suffered during his senior year of high school at Pendleton County.
The 6-foot-6 guard was already one of the leading scorers in Kentucky high school basketball history when he injured his knee in a game on Dec. 22, 2018, just a few weeks into his senior season. Despite missing almost all of the 2018-19 campaign, Allen finished his high school career with 3,255 points 1,228 rebounds — both top 25 in state history — and was named Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball in 2019. He was averaging 42.9 points and 14.2 rebounds per game at the time of his injury.
While still in high school and commuting to Lexington for physical training on his knee, Allen suffered a broken collarbone in a car accident, an injury that also lingered into his first few months of college.
“At this point last season I was obviously going through things with my knee, even a little bit with my collarbone,” Allen said this preseason. “But, at this point I’ve been going at it really hard all summer. I’m just ready to get out there, honestly. I even talked about it last year, I’m so excited, honestly. It’s kind of built up. I’m just working really hard in practice.”
Allen continued to rehab the knee last season and started practicing with the team in January, but — while UK Coach John Calipari teased a possible debut at various times throughout the winter — he never made it onto the court as a freshman.
Rivals.com ranked Allen as the No. 75 overall recruit in the 2019 recruiting class, and his blend of scoring ability and length — he has a 7-2-plus wingspan — makes him a unique NBA prospect down the line.
For now, he was surely thrilled to just be back playing competitive basketball for the first time in nearly two years.
“I learned that I am very resilient,” Allen said last month. “I’ve never gone through really anything like I’ve gone through the last three years. I think, honestly, it’s made me a stronger person. That can only carry on to the court. I think that is going to bring a lot of good things to come on and off the court. It’s kind of a blessing in disguise.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 6:44 PM.
