Marcus Allen, Four-Star 2024 Forward Excited For Hometown OV With Canes
It's been three years since a hometown kid suited up to play basketball for the Miami Hurricanes.
That could change very soon.
Four-star forward Marcus Allen is one of the better players to come out of Miami-Dade County in the past decade. He's been a standout since the eighth grade when he shined at Chris Paul's Rising Stars National Camp.
The 6-foot-6 forward has been involved with the University of Miami since he was a kid, as his mother works at the school.
Now, he'll be visiting Coral Gables with a different purpose. He's set his first official visit with Jim Larranaga and the Hurricanes.
"I've always been around, always been watching it," he said of the Miami program. "Now that I can visit the school and have a chance to play basketball there, it's a really big opportunity for me."
The local star has been in contact with Larranaga 'almost every day,' along with assistant coach Bill Courtney. Much of the staff saw him play in the summer during the EYBL circuit.
Allen will head to UM Sunday morning, where he'll be welcomed with dinner. From there, the visit begins. The official dates are August 21-23.
His relationship with former UM forward Dewan Hernandez grew his love for Larranaga's program. The former McDonald’s All-American played at Miami Norland (FL.), where Allen played his last two seasons.
"Before I knew Dewan or knew I was going to be at Norland, I would watch him at Miami," he said.
With a massive growth spurt in middle school, Allen found himself dedicated to basketball from the jump. Prior to that, he would envision becoming a Hurricane on the football field.
"I was mostly a football kid growing up," he said. "I used to watch the Sean Taylor, the Bryan Pata, people like that. I always dreamed about playing football at 'The U.' God took me other ways, so now it's basketball."
Allen has always been on the radar in the sunshine state, having received his first offer from Florida State as a freshman, followed by Florida Golf Coast and Miami.
Following an exciting sophomore campaign with the Vikings, which included a 5A Regional Final appearance, he'll be transferring to Arizona Compass Prep (AZ.).
Compass Prep has competed in the past two GEICO high school nationals, while also recently producing NBA players like Ty Ty Washington Jr. and Jabari Walker. Its loaded schedule has allowed them to land players in Power-Five programs.
Allen has taken notice of that, hoping to shine in some of the nation's prestigious high school basketball tournaments.
"Now I can actually showcase my skills on a national schedule. I can show what Miami basketball is really all about," he said.
Allen averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore, following that with an impressive summer with the Florida Rebels, a Nike EYBL team.
His impressive year earned him recent offers from Cincinnati, Texas A&M and Arizona State. Staying remotely from the ASU campus, the No. 35 ranked player in the 2024 class expects to visit the Sun Devils soon.
"We're looking for potential dates because it's literally 20-30 minutes away from where I'm living," he said.
Along with that, Allen hopes to take visits to the many schools recruiting him, including Missouri, FSU, South Carolina and Arkansas.
He'll take the journey one step at a time, although he'd love the chance to become a Hurricane.
"All the schools that reached out to me, I'd like to take a chance to go out there and look at each program. I want to explore all my options."