Four-star guard Dante Allen sets date for Villanova visit, updates recruitment
By SAM LANCE
INDIANAPOLIS — If there’s one thing that can be learned from watching four-star guard Dante Allen play, it’s how tough he is and how much his motor runs. College coaches raved about these attributes over the weekend, and the guard backed it up on the court in Indianapolis during the live period.
In four games for the Nightrydas Elite EYBL program, Allen averaged 14.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 59.5% from the field and 4-of-14 from 3-point range. Allen also totaled six steals, five offensive rebounds and two blocks, doing the little things to help his team win.
“It’s something that I was kind of born with, a high motor,” Allen said. “I think that’s helped in my game. Helps me get myself going in multiple ways, but also my teammates as well.”
Allen, the he 6-foot-3, 210-pound guard from Riviera Preparatory School (FL), updated his recruitment to ZAGSBLOG.com in Indianapolis, saying Notre Dame, Marquette, Villanova, Syracuse and Michigan have been recruiting him hardest of late.
The guard confirmed he will be taking a visit to Villanova on June 1-4, and he will visit Notre Dame in June as well, but there is no specific date yet.
Four-star guard Dante Allen of @nightrydaselite will visit Villanova from June 1-4, he tells https://t.co/8WGMjsxjRK.
— Sam Lance (@slancehoops) May 19, 2024
Also planning a June visit to Notre Dame. pic.twitter.com/cBBgVdSDMC
Below is Allen’s breakdown of each school recruiting him currently:
Notre Dame: “Of course head coach [Micah] Shrewsberry, coach [Kyle] Getter. I’d say what I like about what they’ve been talking to me is they want to do a lot for me. They want to help me really be a key part of their system. What I like about them is they’re not a team that’s built around one guy. They’ll bring in young guys, they’ll bring in other guys and they’ll make sure that everybody can get their stuff to kind of be the best team.”
Marquette: “Head coach [Shaka] Smart was one of the guys that reached out fast. Obviously they’re a dominant Big East team, a great team. They have great guards, you know. [Tyler] Kolek’s going to the draft. Other guard, lefty Kam Jones will be in the draft next year too. They definitely know what they’re doing with their guards. That’s the position I’ll be in in college, so that’s definitely something that helps.”
Villanova: “Coach [Mike] Nardy, coach Dwayne Anderson. What I like about them is they’re a very fundamental team and make sure they get everybody involved. Definitely more of a half court team, which is something I’m trying to get a little more acclimated too. If that were to happen, that’s something I’m a little thrown off by.”
Syracuse: “Coach [Dan] Engelstad has been talking to me. They’re definitely excited about me. We’ve been kind of talking the last two, three weeks. They’ve been talking to me a little bit more about the school, the great fan base. One thing he’s definitely talked to me a lot about is they plan on having a really good future. They plan on having a good next year and then for my class 2025, they plan on having a really good recruiting class.”
Michigan: “It’s been good. [Dusty May] started reaching out a little bit last year. Of course being a Florida kid, FAU is maybe an hour drive from me. But of course he got the job up at Michigan. We had a conversation. He said if I was interested, they would still be interested as well. So we were able to kind of keep that relationship even though it now has a new definition.”
Allen plans on naming his top five to six options in August after Peach Jam and will then go from there.
Several college coaches were in to see Allen in Indianapolis, including Shrewsberry, Smart, May and Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry. Villanova also had representation throughout the weekend.
Allen is ranked the No. 78 player in the class of 2025 per 247Sports and the No. 10 player in Florida. He is the son of Malik Allen, who played four season’s at Villanova from 1996-2000. Malik earned All-Big East Second-Team honors his senior season after leading Villanova in scoring. He also played 10 seasons in the NBA.
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