I had not followed Drake basketball. I asked my brother, who lived in Iowa, what he knew about Drake basketball. His reply,”It seems like the go thru a lot of coaches, they last about four years and get fired.”
Maury Johns had been Drake’s coaching legend for 13 years from 1959-1971. The Bulldogs had won the Missouri Valley 4 times under John. His most famous team and Drake’s most famous team was his 1969 team that lost to UCLA and Lew Alcindor 85-82 in the NCAA Semi-Finals.
Under John’s, Drake had won 62% of their games. Since that time, only Keno Davis in his one year had an above .500 winning percentage as Drake coach.
Allen had a good experience at Drake both in the classroom and as basketball manager. Each of the coaches that he worked for gave him great opportunities to grow and develop both as a person and as someone who became interested in going into college coaching.
Freshman Year- 2015-6. Ray Giacoletti 7-24
Sophomore Year-2016-7 Ray Giacoletti 1-7, Jeff Rutter 6-17
Junior Year- 2017-8 Niko Medvid 17-17
Senior Year- 2018-9 Darien DeVries 24-10 (MVC Co-Champs)
How many people can say they worked for 4 different head coaches in their four years of college?
*** The MVC Championship was Drake’s first since 1971 (48 years)
*** Starting in 2019, Drake has won 20+ games 7 years in a row
*** In 2021, Drake finished 2nd in the MVC Tourney, the first time in the history of the MVC Tourney which started in 1977.
*** In 2023, 2024, 2025, Drake won the MVC Tourney Championship for the first time- it took 46 years.
Amy and I had the opportunity to spend a weekend back in Des Moines during the 2023-4 season. The transition of Drake basketball was incredible. Allen’s first couple years, we sat among many empty seats behind the team bench. On this trip, it was a sell out and we were packed into the end zone. It was a great atmosphere! It is exciting to see what Drake basketball has become.
Allen is now in his 10th year connected with college basketball- 4 years at Drake as a manager, 2 years at La Tech as a GA, 1 year at Longwood as video coordinator, and now in 4th year at Tulsa as director of scouting. At every spot, he has worked with incredible head coaches, and has been surrounded by assistant coaches who have been great mentors to him.
Here is a list of the coaches that Allen has worked with:
Niko Medved- Minnesota, Head Coach
Dave Thorson- Minnesota, Ass’t Coach
Aaron Katsuma- Minnesota, Ass’t Coach
Jeff Rutter- Western Michigan, Ass’t Coach
Darian Devries- Indiana, Head Coach
Nick Norton- Indiana, Ass’t Coach
Garrett Sturtz- Indiana, Director of Operations
J.R. Blount- Iowa State, Ass’t Coach
Ali Farokmanesh- Colorado State, Head Coach
Matt Getens- Auburn, General Manager
Marty Richter- U of South Carolina-Upstate, Head Coach
Griff Aldrich- Virginia, Associate Head Coach
Donovan Williams- Oral Roberts, Ass’t Coach
Ronnie Thomas- Longwood, Head Coach
Marty McGillan, Longwood, Ass’t Coach
Eric Konkel- Tulsa, Head Coach
Duffy Conroy- Tulsa, Ass’t Coach
Desmond Hayman- Tulsa, Ass’t Coach
Yaphett King- Tulsa, Ass’t Coach
Josh Wolfe- Tulsa, Director of Operations
Allen has gotten to work with so many great basketball coaches during the last ten years, but more importantly, he has gotten to work with so many great people!
As parents, we have loved following his basketball journey from Drake to La Tech to Longwood to Tulsa. We are certainly proud of our son- his work ethic, his commitment, and his loyalty.
We have our Air BnB’s reserved in Tulsa this winter. We are SO excited to follow the Golden Hurricane this season!
Here is a story the Register-Mail had about Allen his senior year at Drake.
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