Dontaie Allen is the screenwriter of his fairytale finish in Starkville

Pressure. It’s a word that was tossed around throughout the week leading up to Kentucky’s conference-opening matchup against Mississippi State, specifically when it came to the playing time redshirt freshman Dontaie Allen was inevitably set to receive. For starters, freshman guard Terrence Clarke and sophomore forward Keion Brooks Jr. were both expected to miss the game due to injury, while freshman forward Cam’Ron Fletcher sits patiently in the program’s dog house until head coach John Calipari gives him the green light to practice and play again.

With the team down three scholarship players, along with the team’s rage-inducing shooting struggles – UK was No. 321 in the nation in 3-point shooting after seven games (25% overall), with only one Power Five program shooting at a worse clip (Miami (FL), 23.53%) – the writing was on the wall for Allen to see extended minutes for the first time in his career. Calipari then confirmed the opportunity was coming in the days leading up to the team’s trip to Starkville, adding that it was the Falmouth, KY native’s time to “shine.”

“He’s gonna get a chance now. … I was really proud of him because he’s waited his turn, and rightfully so,” Calipari said. “Guys in front of him were better than him. Now it’s his turn to shine. It’s his turn to do it. I’m cheering, rooting (for him).”

Allen had played just 20 minutes combined in seven total games, including three DNP’s against Richmond, Notre Dame and Louisville. In that time, the former Pendleton County star took no more than three shots or played more than nine minutes in a single game, but knocked down one 3-pointer in two of the three outings he managed at least one attempt. The issues were there – defensive miscues and turnovers being the main concerns – but with the team sitting at 1-6 on the year, which player wasn’t making their fair share of mistakes?

As a senior at Pendleton County, Allen averaged an absurd 42.9 points and 14.2 rebounds per contest, including six 50-point games and 12 double-doubles in his first 13 outings. He was on pace to break “King” Kelly Coleman’s state scoring record of 4,337 career points, torching the nets every time he took the floor prior to tearing his ACL just 13 games into the season. It was a stretch of elite play that, despite the shortened season, earned him Kentucky Mr. Basketball honors in 2019.

Widely considered one of the greatest pure scorers to ever come out of the Commonwealth, the in-state star would finish his career with 3,255 total points (tenth in state history) and 1,228 rebounds (22nd in state history). Above all else, Allen grew up a diehard UK fan, announcing his commitment to the program just one day after visiting campus and receiving a scholarship offer on Aug. 2, 2018.

Whether he was ready for it or not, the Falmouth native had ‘fan favorite’ written all over him from the start, and the intensity of that local support only grew when wide-open misses and poor shot selection became the uncomfortable norm to open the season.

The pressure was on Calipari to play Allen, and when it became clear that opportunity was coming in Starkville, the pressure was on Allen to convert. And when rumors of the 6-foot-6 sharpshooter lighting up the scoreboard in Kentucky’s super secret scrimmage against Transylvania last week began circulating – Calipari later confirmed the redshirt freshman went 6-10 from deep – the noise grew even louder and the spotlight grew brighter.

It reached the point where it was no longer the casual pressure that typically comes with a bench player seeing real minutes for the first time. Fair or not, the weight was on Allen’s shoulders to save the sinking ship that was Kentucky’s season with a breakout shooting night, one that would inspire hope that things can be turned around in the long run.

The thing is, the 6-foot-6 guard couldn’t feel that pressure, nor was he worried about crumbling with all eyes pointed his direction. Given his first serious look at playing time this season, Allen put forth one of the most memorable single-game efforts in recent memory, finishing with 23 points on 8-13 shooting overall and 7-11 from three in 32 minutes of action to lead Kentucky to a 78-73 victory in double overtime.

It was an effort that earned him SEC Freshman of the Week honors Monday afternoon.

“I don’t think it was pressure only because I put in the work,” Allen said following Kentucky’s road victory in Starkville on Saturday. “I didn’t know when my opportunity was going to come. Obviously, it could have come today, next week or next month. Nobody knows, so I was just keeping my head down and just working hard. I am thankful for the opportunity I had tonight.”

You see, Allen’s journey is unlike most. The former Pendleton County star had the game he loved most ripped away from him in the midst of arguably the greatest single-season effort we’ve seen in Kentucky high school basketball history when he tore his ACL just 13 games into his senior year. He then broke his collarbone in a brutal car accident just a few months later, adding a new difficult hurdle and setback to the rehabilitation process.

The injuries forced Allen to miss the remainder of his senior season in high school, along with the entirety of his freshman campaign at Kentucky in 2019-20. It was a sequence of events that would give him a brand new outlook on life and his love for the game of basketball.

“I had a couple of injuries obviously and went through a lot of things, but just knowing that every day you’ve got to—it’s almost like your life’s on the line,” the Kentucky guard said this summer. “That’s kind of the mentality that I’ve got. Like, my life is on the line every day and if I don’t give that kind of effort into it, I’m not going to make it. … I think early on that was very apparent because it can be taken away. I still haven’t been able to play in any games since 2018, the end of 2018. That’s how easy it can happen.”

Given his first big shot, Allen single-handedly willed the Wildcats to victory, coming up with one make from deep at the end of the first half, four 3-pointers in the second half, one in the first overtime period, and another in the second overtime. It was an effort that Calipari said “changes our team” moving forward, one that earned the redshirt freshman a permanent spot in the rotation.

“When you do that, you kind of prove your point,” Calipari said after the win. “That’s what you’re supposed to do when you get a chance. I’m just so happy for him. … He changed us offensively because he spread the court. You’re playing behind some guys that you’re proving now, “They should be playing behind me.” He changes our team.”

Shot after shot, the in-state standout found a way to find the bottom of the net, willing the Wildcats back from as many as nine points to tie the game at the end of regulation, compete in overtime, and ultimately run away in the second overtime period. And it wasn’t just catch-and-shoot opportunities, either, as Allen found himself knocking down shots off of jab-step fakes and isolation gathers, dripping confidence with every touch. He even got a silly off-balanced long two from the top of the key to ricochet off the backboard and fall through the hoop to extend Kentucky’s lead in the second overtime. It was just that kind of day.

When you look at each make and the situation at that moment in the game, every single shot was crucial to UK’s comeback victory. Allen cut the deficit before half, stopped the game from getting out of hand on two separate occasions midway through the second half, two clutch makes late in regulation, a three to take the lead in overtime, and an individual 5-0 run in the second overtime period to seal the victory.

• 1:34 1H, 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one (31-30)
• 9:40 2H, 3-pointer to cut the lead to four (50-46)
• 8:46 2H, 3-pointer to cut the lead to six (55-49)
• 5:08 2H, 3-pointer to take a one point lead (56-55)
• 1:34 2H, 3-pointer to tie the game (59-59)
• 1:08 OT, 3-pointer to take a three point lead (68-65)
• 3:24 2OT, long two to take a three point lead (73-70)
• 2:28 2OT, 3-pointer to take a six point lead (76-70)

It was a performance that was reminiscent of Allen’s glory days at Pendleton County, the days when he’d take the floor in front of a sellout crowd, bleachers packed and a line out the door every game just to see him play. He was must-see TV leading up to the moment a freak knee injury ended his historic high school basketball career, an injury he promised to return from “back and better than ever.”

“Dear Senior Tour, you’re being cut short,” Allen announced following the injury. “You brought many blessings and hardships to me that I wouldn’t trade for the world. God blessed me with talent and work ethic, but he’s not going to let me stop now. Thank you all!! I will be back and better than ever!”

Exactly 742 long, grueling days later, the homegrown talent finally returned back to his old ways – better even – just as he promised he would.

And that’s what makes this moment so special. The work ethic, the drive, fighting through every adversity that came his way, he earned that moment. Call it a hot hand in a crucial game, call it luck, say what you will, but that magical Disney movie script of a performance was one Allen wrote himself.

The painful injuries, the strenuous rehab, regaining confidence, fighting to finally earn a spot in the rotation, all overcome with hard work.

“I fall back on my work every time,” Allen said. “The reason I said there is no pressure is if you put the work in and you get your opportunity, you know you are going to be ready. A lot of people go down a different path – I was just waiting for my opportunity, and I capitalized on it.”

It’s the work that happens when no one’s looking.

The night before each game, Calipari and the UK coaching staff gather with the players to break down game film. On this particular Friday night in Starkville, Allen approached a coach after the pregame film session and asked if he could stay just a little while longer to break things down together. He knew his opportunity was coming, and he wanted to be as prepared as possible.

“Here’s the thing that everyone in Kentucky should be proud of: the night before the game, we do film,” Calipari said during his call-in radio show Monday evening. “After everybody filtered out of the room, Dontaie grabbed a coach and said, “Can we stay? I want to go over this to make sure.” He knew, “If I defend, and I know where I’m supposed to be, I can stay in the game, because coach has said it to me 10,000 times.” What happened is, they stayed an hour.”

Little did Calipari know, that extra work extended well beyond an hour.

Walking through the hotel late Friday evening – by chance, I had booked a room at the same hotel the team was staying in – I steered past the gym and noticed Allen jogging on the treadmill by himself. He wasn’t joined by any other teammates, wasn’t pushed by coaches, he was simply getting a late-night run in before winding down for the night. Additional conditioning the night before a big game, pretty good sign.

After working in my room a few additional hours, I ran down to the lobby a little after 11 p.m. CT to grab a drink out of the vending machine and walk around for a bit before heading to bed. On my way back up, I noticed someone in the corner of my eye sitting at one of the hotel lobby computers off to the side, away from potential foot traffic. It was Allen.

He wasn’t just searching the web or scrolling through social media, finding ways to pass the time alone in a hotel on a Friday night in Starkville. He was engrossed in a game film session. Again.

“Big game tomorrow,” I said to him across the room.

“Supposed to be,” he quickly responded with a hopeful smile.

Little did he know, the movie he had been writing since his time at Pendleton County, through the injuries, and in the early stages of his young Kentucky career would premiere just a day later.