Attention motivates PG Grayson Allen

(Providence/Jacksonville, Fla.) exploded onto the basketball recruiting scene after several breakout performances during the summer.

It’s halfway through the high school basketball season and Allen continues to play well, helping his team to an impressive 13-0 record.

Allen suffered a pulled groin earlier in the season, so he’s been playing limited minutes. Still, that hasn’t stopped the attention he’s been getting from both college coaches and random people.

“It’s kind of weird, but I like it,” Allen said about the recognition he’s been receiving. “Random people come up to me and know everything about me.”

Rather than feeling pressured by the spotlight, Allen uses the attention “as motivation to go out and play hard.” He continues to hear from colleges coaches, including from Florida Gators assistants John Pelphrey and Matt McCall.

Allen previously visited Florida in August, but the 6-foot-4, 185-pounder said he wants to get up to a game soon.

“I hear from coach Pelphrey and coach McCall very often,” Allen said. “I’m going to try and catch a game when I have a free weekend. It’ll probably be the Missouri game on Jan. 19.”

As of now, Allen doesn’t plan on taking any steps in narrowing down his recruitment until after the season, but he acknowledged where Florida stands with him.

“I definitely have a strong interest in Florida. I feel like I have a great relationship with the coaches, so the next step for me is to make it to a game,” he said.

drewlaing
Drew is a senior at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. When not at school, Drew resides in Lakeland, Fla. Ever since working on his high school yearbook, Drew has had an interest in pursuing a journalism career after college. In addition to being Editor-in-Chief of his school newspaper, The Samford Crimson, Drew has also been with Gator Country as an intern for one year. He enjoys the finer things in life like Tampa Bay Rays baseball and always making sure to make fun of the Atlanta Braves to Andrew Spivey’s face.