The book on … Malik Allen

Sporting News, The, Dec 13, 1999 by Joe Juliano

Villanova, senior center, 6-10/245

Malik Allen-is a model post player. He possesses a fine shooting touch whether he has the ball with his back to the basket or is facing up for midrange jumpers. He makes free throws, blocks shots and grabs rebounds.

But until he found his confidence, he didn't seem likely to fulfill the tremendous potential that followed him from Shawnee High School in South Jersey. That confidence clicked in the second half of last season. It may have been sparked by Allen's move to center from power forward in the team's 17th game, or by his play in the final six contests, in which he averaged 15.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.3 blocks, helping Villanova to an NCAA Tournament berth.

Now a senior, Allen averaged 16.5 points and shot 68 percent in the team's rather ugly opening wins over Lafayette and Fairleigh Dickinson.

"My confidence was building more and more as (last) season went on," Allen says. "It was a good feeling to finally get those skills out. I would find them before a game, and then maybe I'd regress a little. But once I was able to get them out on a consistent basis, it felt really good."

Allen came up with huge performances in the final week of the regular season, lifting Villanova into the tournament. He poured in 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting against Providence, led a second-half comeback against Penn and hit the basket that gave the Wildcats the lead for good in a win over eighth-ranked St. John's.

Of course, with his late-season quantum leap comes huge expectations for this season. Allen is the go-to guy in the middle and will need to assume the scoring load on nights the perimeter shooters are misfiring, which may be often considering the team was 11-of-39 in 3-point attempts entering Monday's game at UMass. The woeful shooting has led teams to play zones and deny the entry pass to Allen.

"Right now, we've got to start knocking down our 3s with regularity," coach Steve Lappas says. "Otherwise, people are going to collapse on Malik like crazy."