Men's Basketball Southern Conference

Wofford Names Assistant Basketball Coach

Wofford College has announced the hiring of Jimmy Allen as an assistant men's basketball coach.

Allen joins the Terriers after spending the last six years as an assistant at Navy, helping guide the Midshipmen to a pair of Patriot League championships and NCAA Tournament berths. Navy posted three 20-win seasons during Allen's tenure, including the 1999-00 squad that went 23-6. Two other teams collected 19 victories.

"Jimmy Allen has been a friend of mine for many years," Wofford Head Coach Mike Young said. "We have very similar backgrounds.

"When I got this job, Jimmy was one of the first people I called to see if he would be interested in being my assistant. We're certainly fortunate to have someone of his background join our staff. He comes to us from a situation at Navy that is very similar to Wofford in terms of our academics and the type of student-athlete we look to recruit. Jimmy was part of some very good teams at Navy as well as working for a legend in Don DeVoe."

Like Young, Allen graduated from Emory & Henry before serving as an assistant at his alma mater under longtime Wasp Head Coach Bob Johnson. Allen graduated in 1993 and worked three seasons for Johnson before heading to Annapolis.

Allen was a four-year letterman in basketball and a Team Captain his final two seasons at Emory & Henry. He helped lead the Wasps to a combined 91-26 record and four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. The Roanoke, Va., native ranks second on Emory & Henry's career assist chart while setting a school mark for consecutive games played at 117.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity to come to Wofford and work with Coach Young," Allen said. "I've always had a close relationship with Mike and I look forward to helping him build on Wofford's success."

Allen is the son of Lt. Col. James Allen (Ret.), a 1967 United States Military Academy graduate who taught chemistry at both Army and Navy for 20 years. Allen spent 17 years at the two service academies -- nine at Navy and eight at West Point.

Allen is engaged to be married to Katie O'Neill of Annapolis, Md., on May 18.