Marvel Allen Commits to Georgetown

Hoyas landed the former LSU commit from West Palm Beach, FL.

Let’s paint a picture. Saturday, July 16th is just a typical Saturday. Nothing too special going on, at least not for me. I saw the day before that five-star (ESPN has him as a five-star, take that, haters) guard Marvel Allen dropped his Top 6 and the Hoyas made the list, which is good, but I’m just so used to it. Almost means nothing to me at this point. So, I just brushed it off. Saturday comes and at 2 pm it’s announced that Allen committed to the Hoyas. Coach Nickelberry you absolute legend, you’ve done it again.

At first, I didn’t think it was real. Oh sure, the guy commits the day after, without any leadup, nice try fake Twitter experts, you’re not getting me this time. Oh, wait it’s actually real. The announcement was very lowkey, no huge announcement, no build-up to this moment, nothing. Just a simple commitment, one that not nearly enough people talked about. But instead, LeBron is playing in the Drew League and we need constant updates on that (then again, I was tweeting about MMA, so who’s the real idiot here (it’s me)).

Ok, enough lead-up. What makes Allen such a great talent? Why should people care? Yeah, he has those five stars next to his name, but so what?

Allen is a 6’4” combo guard who has elite athleticism. He’s a bigger guard who takes advantage of any smaller guard that matches up with him and bullies them inside. He seems to be more comfortable playing the two-guard spot, he’s able to get the ball in spaces where he’s ready to attack however he sees fit.

He has a great ability to create shots for himself off the bounce, and finish. He’s a threat from all three levels on the floor, but if he gets to his spot from mid-range or inside, he’s almost automatic. He has a large arsenal of moves that he can break down defenders with, and for a guard with his athletic ability is really patient and waits for his moment to attack at the right time.

He’s a great balance of athletic and patient. He’s very rarely in a rush offensively, which is a very important skill for a younger guard. On that defensive end, Marvel is absolutely relentless. He’s on guys the second they touch the ball and will bother you for all 94 feet, if you are lucky enough to get it that far. He’s an energizer bunny on that end, always ready to do the dirty work to make any opposing guards’ life that much more difficult. Marvel is very active in passing lanes and will take the risk to get that steal, and if he does it’s usually an easy two. He’s lightning quick in transition and makes you pay for any mistake you might make. A lot of these high-level five stars will take some possessions off to get a highlight, but that’s absolutely not Marvel. He will play 40 minutes of tough defense. You will have a rough night stepping up against Allen.

Usually, with a lot of these athletic guards, they aren’t great three-point shooters, and where that’s not Marvel’s best part of his game, you better get that hand up. He can hit shots with a hand in his face, but if you don’t close out, 3 points all day.

Allen is a very well-rounded talent, who will give it everything he’s got for all 40 minutes. He’s a relentless defender, who will absolutely give you buckets on the other end. Yeah, I’m pumped about this one. If you excuse me, I have some highlights to watch.