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Juco Allen eyes chance to shine
Nation's
leading juco rusher shores up RB corps
By
Sammy Batten
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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Breon Allen was
dangling in recruiting limbo late last February when he received a
telephone call from East Carolina special teams coordinator and
running backs coach, Kirk Doll.
Despite having led
the nation's junior college ranks in rushing at Snow College in
Emphraim, UT, Allen still didn't have any scholarship offers and
was beginning to wonder if any would be forthcoming. He had
spoken briefly with Doll around national signing day in early
February, but at that time was told ECU had no scholarships left
to offer.
But somewhere
between signing day and early March the situation at ECU
changed.
"He (Doll) called
back about a month later and said they had a scholarship
available,'' Allen said. " I came in for a visit and just loved
it. I accepted on the spot.''
Allen actually
signed a national letter of intent while on the campus visit in
early March to officially become the 25th member of ECU's
recruiting Class of 2013.
He is the second
junior college running back to sign with the Pirates, joining
Terrell Lane from Hutchinson Community College. Lane, from
Norton, KS, finished just behind Allen in JUCO rushing last
season with 1,629 yards.
The 5-foot-8,
180-pound Allen led all JUCO rushers in yardage (1,632) and
touchdowns (20). The performance earned Allen Western States
Football League Player of the Year and first-team junior college
All-American honors. He'll depart Snow College as the school's
all-time leading rusher with 2,404 yards.
Allen must first
complete requirements for an Associate of Arts degree at Snow
before enrolling at East Carolina. But he said Wednesday in a
telephone interview from Utah that he expects to fulfill those
requirements by this summer.
When Allen arrives
in Greenville it will mark the end of a long, winding and
sometimes frustrating journey to the Football Bowl Subdivision
ranks.
The trip began in
Daytona, FL, where Allen started playing tackle football at the
age of 9, thanks to a huge sacrifice made by his mother,
Lakeisha Bowdell.
"It's actually
kind of a funny story now,'' Allen said. "I begged my Mom to let
me play (football), but we really didn't have enough money (for
participation fee). My Mom decided not to pay the light bill for
one month so I could play.
"Everything turned
out OK, so I guess that was a good thing.''
Allen quickly
became a star running back as he rose through the Pop Warner
League to the middle school and finally the high school ranks at
Warner Christian Academy. He helped propel Warner Christian to
the three consecutive state Class 1B championship games while
piling up a then-school career record of 4,424 rushing yards.
Many FBS programs
recruited Allen at Warner Christian and scholarship offers came
in from the likes of Eastern Michigan, Illinois State, Marshall
and Tennessee State. But Allen actually made a verbal commitment
prior to the start of his senior season to the University of
Pittsburgh and then-head coach Dave Wannstedt.
But Wannstedt's
dismissal after the 2010 season and Allen's own academic issues
led to that opportunity being lost.
Allen wound up
signing a letter of intent to Football Championship Subdivision
program at Bethune-Cookman. But academics again derailed his
entry and sent him packing his bags for Ephraim, a town of about
7,000 people located in the middle of Utah.
"It was
frustrating, but it was my fault,'' Allen said. "I didn't have
my grades in order. I don't even know if I would have had a
scholarship (to Pitt) after Wannstedt left anyway.
"I had heard about
the junior college route from my mentor, P.J. Smith, who had
gone to Dodge City (junior college) in Kansas. I was trying to
avoid that route. I was a little nervous about it. But if I
wanted to keep playing football, I had to go for it.''
So Allen traveled
more than 2,000 miles from Daytona Beach to Ephraim where he
experienced complete culture shock.
"My goodness, I
had never been out of Florida, except to Georgia once and New
York once,'' he said. "When I came out here, I had never seen a
mountain before. I had never seen an elk before. I had never
seen a deer as big as humans. It was crazy, man.''
Allen's career at
Snow was filled with highlights, but one of the biggest occurred
on September 15 last season in a game against Glendale Community
College. He earned National Junior College Athletic
Association's Player of the Week honors after racking up 281
rushing yards and three touchdowns in a 50-33 victory.
East Carolina will
be getting a back in Allen who can run and and catch the
football.
"I've got
deceptive strength,'' Allen said in describing his running
style. "I can run between the tackles, and I like to do that.
I'm an excellent ball catcher. I catch real good out of the
backfield. I could move out and be a slot receiver if I had to
be. I feel like I'm the complete package. I can even return
kicks.''
If Allen completes
his academic work at Snow College, he could be a factor for ECU
next fall. The backfield situation for the Pirates is a bit
uncertain due to the indefinite suspension of last year's
1,000-yard rusher, Vintavious Cooper. Cooper, who also came to
Greenville from the JUCO ranks, was suspended in May after being
arrested on a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession.
Without Cooper in
camp for spring practice, the only scholarship backs with
experience on the ECU roster were sophomore Chris Hairston and
senior Zico Pasut. Hairston, however, missed a most of the
spring with a shoulder injury.
The team's top
rusher in the annual Purple and Gold scrimmage to end spring
drills was a walk-on, Cory Hunter, who ran 15 times for 61
yards. Michael Dobson, who was a backup running back last
season, shifted to defensive back in the spring.
"It's exciting
because I think that offense is a perfect fit for a back like
me,'' Allen said. "I like to be in the open field where I can
make a lot of people miss. When I saw that offense and how they
use the running back in the backfield and in the slot, I went,
'Wow! That's where I make the money at.' It's perfect.''
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06/12/2013 02:55 AM |
