TJ graduate Pierre Allen is taking his game from the court to the field.
by Scott Bruskin
photo courtesy farm3.static.flickr.com
Former TJ basketball and football superstar Pierre Allen is now making a name for himself on the division I football gridiron.
Once known for his great skills on the field as well as on the court, Allen has now shifted all of his attention to football, and it is paying huge dividends as Allen was awarded with a full ride scholarship to the University of Nebraska to play football two years ago. Although he had offers from schools including Colorado, Colorado State, Michigan State, Syracuse, Washington and Wyoming, Allen elected to only visit Nebraska.
Allen, after being redshirted his freshman year (meaning that he could practice all year with the team, but could never play) was called upon in all 11 games his sophomore year, finishing the season with 16 total tackles. This year started more of the same with Allen coming off the bench and getting occasional repetitions. But when star Senior Defensive End Barry Turner broke a bone in his leg against the San Jose State Spartans (officially ending his senior campaign) Allen was thrust into the starting lineup and was asked to fill the void that Turner’s departure created. Needless to say, Allen excelled, recording 10 tackles including three for a loss, as well as also recording one pass deflection against the Spartans. “Everybody knows Barry Turner and what he brought to the team, so I’ve got big shoes to fill,” Allen told HuskersIllustrated.com.
Allen progressed on all phases of the game, not just the game of football. “I’m just so proud that he has grown up and matured into a man. He is getting good grades as well as excelling on the football field,” said TJ Head Basketball Coach Grant Laman, who was at first disappointed to find out that Allen was stepping away from basketball, but later learned to accept it. “For the first week I was disappointed, but I later realized that Pierre made a great choice, knowing that it would be to hard to play both sports while in college”.
Had Allen elected to pursue basketball as his sport, he would have had many offers from Division I schools interested in offering him a scholarship.
The Cornhuskers hosted an explosive Missouri Tigers team this past Saturday, an unfortunately could not pull away with a win, losing 52-17. Allen however, had a good game, recording one solo tackle, as well as four assisted tackles. The Cornhuskers schedule does not get any easier though, as they next travel to College Station to take on the number seven nationally ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders, the game begins at 1:00 on Saturday.
GP/GS SOLO AST TOTAL SACKS
95 Allen, Pierre 5-3 9 19 28 1.0
