Thomas Allen Season 2018-19

Honors & Awards

• Sam Foltz Hero 27 Leadership Award (2019)
• Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2019)

Note: Allen announced his decision to transfer on April 5, 2019.

2018-19 (Sophomore)
Thomas Allen emerged as a solid contributor as a sophomore, averaging 8.7 points per game on 44 percent shooting, including 36 percent from 3-point range, while chipping in 2.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He played in NU’s first 29 games, including 25 starts, before suffering a season-ending in the second half at No. 9 Michigan on Feb. 28. On the year, Allen was eighth in the Big Ten with 1.3 steals per game and had multiple steals in 11 of 29 contests, including a career-high five steals in a win over Missouri State. He finished with 10 double-figure performances, including a career-high 18 points against both Creighton and at Purdue.  Against Creighton, he hit 7-of-11 shots from the field and added five rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes. He followed up with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting against Oklahoma State in Sioux Falls despite missing most of the week because of a virus. In Big Ten action, his best performance came at No. 15 Purdue, when he came off the bench to tie his career high with 18 points, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range, against the Boilermakers. He also grabbed a career high nine rebounds and added seven points and three assists in a one-point win over Minnesota. 

2017-18 (Freshman)
Allen was the only freshman to crack the Huskers' rotation, as he averaged 3.2 points and 1.0 rebound per contest while playing 32 contests. One of the first guards off the bench for the Big Red, he shot nearly 40 percent from the field, including 35 percent from 3-point range, and played nearly 10 minutes per contest.

Allen provided scoring punch off the bench, scoring six or more points on eight occasions, including a pair of double-figure performances. He enjoyed a breakout game against No. 13 Kansas on Dec. 16, setting then-personal bests in points (13), field goals (five), 3-pointers (three) and rebounds (two) in 14 minutes of work. He saw his most extensive action against Delaware State on Dec. 22, finishing with season highs of 14 points, four assists and two steals in a career-high 26 minutes of work. He made an early impact, coming off the bench with six points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and two assists in the win over Eastern Illinois on Nov. 11. Allen closed non-conference action on a high note, scoring all four of his points in a 10-0 run and adding a season-high four rebounds in the win over Stetson on Dec. 29.

He played in all 18 Big Ten games as one of the first guards off the bench. Allen tallied five points or more on five occasions, including an eight-point effort in the win over Wisconsin on Jan. 12. That was part of a three-game stretch where he averaged 5.7 ppg. He also had five points and two rebounds in seven minutes in a win over No. 14 Minnesota on Dec. 5 and six points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the Huskers’ win in Minneapolis on Feb. 6.

Before Nebraska
Allen was one of the nation's top high school shooters and was a consensus top-100 recruit for the class of 2018. A four-star prospect by ESPN, Scout and Rivals, Allen was rated the No. 11 prospect in New England by the New England Recruiting Report.

Allen spent his senior season at Brewster Academy, helping Coach Jason Smith's team win its fifth National Prep title and a perfect 33-0 record. Brewster became the first New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA team to finish unbeaten since Maine Central institute in 1998. Allen was chosen as the NEPSAC Class AAA Player of the Year and first-team NEPSAC, averaging 18 points per game on 55 percent shooting, including 48 percent from 3-point range. He went 115 of 239 from 3-point range, highlighted by a school-record 11 3-pointers as part of a 50-point effort against Bridgton Academy. He scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the national prep school championship game against Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.). Allen also made the all-tournament team at the National Prep School Invitational, an event that featured the 30 top prep schools in the country, plus several international teams, as he scored 21 points against South Kent (Conn.).

Allen spent his first three years at Garner High School, where he led the school to the North Carolina 4A State Championship as a sophomore in 2015. Allen averaged 18 points a game as Garner won its first boys basketball state championship. As a junior, Allen averaged 21.5 points, 5.6 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game as the Trojans won a school-record 29 games and advanced to the North Carolina Eastern Region Championship. For his efforts, Allen was named the Greater Neuse River Conference Player of the Year and was a second-team North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association selection in 2016.

Allen played for the Garner Road AAU program coached by Dwayne West. Allen joins fellow Garner Road product Isaac Copeland in the Husker program in 2018-19. Allen, who originally signed with North Carolina State, chose Nebraska over Kansas, Georgetown and Xavier among others.

Personal
The son of Clarence and Tonya Simmons, Thomas was born on Oct. 21, 1998, in Raleigh, N.C. He has one brother, Brandon Smith, and three sisters, Deshadia Allen, Tashari Allen and Racquel Simmons. Thomas is a criminolgy and criminal justice major at Nebraska. In August of 2018, he also organized a back-to-school drive for kids at Elliott Elementary, collecting backpacks, books, and school supplies for kids attending the school.