Bone brings Allen along to WSU

Two down, one to go. Per Grippi:

“We’ve been able to hire Curtis Allen, who worked for me the last four years at Portland State,” Bone said Monday. “I got to know him when he was a player at the University of Washington. Actually, I met him when he was in high school, but he didn’t have the time of day for me because I was at Seattle Pacific.”

I'd love to tell you that this is a great hire, that it's really going to help Bone build the program ... but I'm going to be honest and tell you that I've got no clue what kind of coach Allen is.

What I do know is that he's a Husky -- seriously, do we have to hire a former Husky player to go along with our former Husky men's basketball assistant and former Husky women's basketball coach? -- and that he's young, young, young. (Just 27.) Sometimes that's a good thing, in that they don't exactly have a life yet and live to work the recruiting trails. But Allen is married, so there goes that one.

However, it seems as though the coaching bug bit Allen straight away. He went right into assistant high school coaching upon completion of his college career, and joined Bone at Portland State the fall after completing his degree in general studies in 2005.

Allen talked extensively about his transition to coaching in this 2006 story in the UW Daily. It's a real nice read and worth your time:

"When I was playing for Coach Romar and that whole staff, they inspired me to get into coaching," Allen said. "The way they dealt with the players, the way they prepared for games, just the way that they carry themselves. I knew then after two years of playing for them that I really wanted to get into coaching. ... I didn't really want a chance overseas because there's not a lot of security behind that so I decided to start my career off early."

I'm curious to read more about Allen as a coach, and I'm sure we will, given the whole "former UW player becomes WSU assistant coach" angle is ready made for a story. Here's to hoping we don't have to wait until next basketball season to read about it, because I for one am really curious to hear how he feels the first time he puts on a crimson and gray sweatsuit.

With this hire, Bone's got one more spot on the staff to fill.

Oh! One other thing -- in the Allen story Bone reveals that the scholarship that once was headed to David Chadwick now is likely to remain unfilled in this recruiting class. No big shock there, as it sounds like he wants the opportunity to bring in a couple of his own players that fit for next year. If Fabian Boeke isn't cleared to continue, that would free up a third scholarship.