Allen Has Cypress Moving Up Smartly

When Willie Allen was a senior at Hacienda Heights Wilson High, he never really considered attending a community college.

He didn’t see the need. Allen, the son of two teachers, was a solid student and had no trouble meeting the academic requirements of Loyola Marymount.

Allen had been a standout guard in high school. He made the Loyola Marymount team as a walk-on but played sparingly.

He had hoped to earn a scholarship after last season but didn’t and left because of the cost, which was about $22,000 for one year.

Allen, who rarely played at Loyola Marymount, is rarely off the floor for Cypress (12-9, 4-2), which is in third place in the Orange Empire Conference. The Chargers can move into a second-place tie with a victory Wednesday at Irvine Valley.

After leaving Loyola Marymount, Allen said he contacted Saddleback, Irvine Valley and Cypress. He watched the Chargers play in a spring league game and made his decision.

“I really liked the program,” Allen said, “once I got a feel for it. I just wanted to go someplace where I could be seen.”

Allen’s goals are twofold. First, he wants to help the team win as many games as possible. Second, he wants to earn a scholarship to help with the expense of the rest of his education.

His play of late has helped accomplish the first aim and has attracted interest from recruiters.

He had 29 points, including seven three-pointers, in a Jan. 17 loss to Saddleback and came back with 28 points (three three-pointers) in a victory over Orange Coast two days later.

He had 21 points on seven three-pointers in a victory over Rancho Santiago last Wednesday. Allen leads Cypress in scoring at 16.1. He has 57 three-pointers and has made 62 of 72 free throws (86%).

“I was just sick of losing,” he said. “I was just trying to get the team going.”

After college, Allen hopes to become a teacher. He isn’t sure what age he wants to teach but it was a group of preschoolers who inspired him on this path about seven years ago.

Allen was in Florida visiting family and went to a school where his aunt worked. He spent some time helping the children, teaching them the basics of shooting a basketball.

Soon after returning home, he received a bunch of thank-you letters from the children.

“That really touched me,” he said. “All I did was teach them how to make a basket.”