Dontaie Allen (UK Athletics Photo)
Playing with a daily sense of urgency is something that John Calipari’s freshman basketball players have to learn once they get to Kentucky. Or at least most of them do. Sophomore Dontaie Allen of Pendleton County can now admit that’s a lesson he had to learn even last year when he was redshirted because of injuries he had.
“It’s almost like your life’s on the line. 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,” Allen said.
“If the team doesn’t do these types of things, we won’t be successful as a team. Just getting my mind in that kind of mental space has gotten me stronger. I’m just more consistent in that way.”
Even though Allen did not play in a game last year he knows what he learned daily was still valuable.
“Every practice is like a game. You’re going against 5-star (players). You’re going against everybody. Like, everybody is hooping. Everybody is working hard,” Allen, a former Kentucky Mr. Basketball, said. “A lot of games might be like that, but a lot of games aren’t going to be like that. These are all like high-level players and you’ve got to work hard every day in practice. I’m on my own, and because of that, I’m going to be in prime shape for the games.”
Allen said there’s no added pressure on him being the only in-state scholarship player on the team.
“You can say there’s added pressure because you’re from Kentucky, but this is just where I want to be. This is the culture that I wanted to be in. I’m ready to work my hardest, work my tail off just to get things done here,” he said.
