Allen Makes Pick
St. Thomas More senior guard Bryon Allen made a verbal commitment to George Mason on Monday.
Last month it appeared as if Allen was going to be choosing from among Providence, Boston College, Oregon, and Siena. But like many other players in the area, his recruitment was affected by the recent coaching carousel with Oregon firing head coach Ernie Kent and Siena head coach Fran McCaffery leaving to take over at Iowa.
George Mason and SMU were two schools that made a big push for Allen in recent weeks. He visited George Mason two weeks ago and had a trip to SMU scheduled for this past weekend before opting to cancel the visit and reportedly choose between Siena and George Mason.
“I was really considering Siena, but once I found out coach was leaving I went with George Mason,” Allen told SNY’s Adam Zagoria.
Allen had previously committed to West Virginia as a junior at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. This year he transferred to St. Thomas More and opted to open up his recruitment.
This was also the first year that the Maryland native played the point guard position on a consistent basis and he responded, averaging 19 points and 7 assists per game while leading St. Thomas More to the semi-finals of both the NEPSAC Class A tournament as well as the National Prep Championship.
“They see me being a point guard. I think I’m ready for that,” he told Scout.com’s Dave Telep. “This whole year I played point guard at St. Thomas More and that was the first time I played the whole year there. I think I did pretty good at it.”
The close proximity to Allen’s home in Upper Marlboro, Maryland also worked in George Mason’s favor as their campus in Fairfax, Virginia is less than an hour away.
"I've been going to boarding school since 10th grade," Allen told the Washington Post. "My family will get a chance to see me play. I think it's great fit for me. I played with or against a lot of their players during my high school career."
Bryon Allen