NC State adds Thomas Allen to the Pack
Wolfeboro, NH
While there hasn’t been a ton of talk surrounding NC State of late, the Wolfpack got on the board in the 2017 class with one of the top shot makers from all of America. Thomas Allen, a 6-foot guard that calls Raleigh his home, verbally committed to Mark Gottfried and his staff on Sunday evening.
Attending Brewster Academy for his final year of prep ball, Allen is a fine acquisition for the ACC bunch. While he isn’t an explosive athlete and is more of a scoring guard rather than a facilitator at the lead guard spot, what Allen does not lack for is toughness in the backcourt and the willingness to do whatever it might take for his squad to come out with the win.
Running with the Garner Road travel bunch this past summer on the adidas circuit, the Carolina native was the catalyst for his squad reaching great success throughout the month of July. During his final weekend of play in Las Vegas, Allen showed how talented he really was by scoring the basketball from inside and out, while also displaying much better playmaking abilities than he had in tow earlier in the year. All of which accumulated with a run to the adidas Summer Championships final, an even that is the premier contest for the particular shoe brand circuit.
Beating out the likes of St. Louis, NC State, and Ohio State for the guard’s commitment, Allen is a plug-in for potential one-and-done Dennis Smith at the lead guard spot next year. Whether he can handle the primary guard spot immediately is up for debate but what isn’t is Allen’s ability to shoot the basketball and defend it on the other end of the floor.
The first commitment in the 2017 class for NC State, Allen is a quality start for the Wolfpack. Expect for the ACC crew to remain on the hunt for a few more pieces as they fight for the talents of such top tier recruits as Collin Sexton, Mayan Kiir, and Brian Bowen.
