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Dontaie Allen Catching Up on the X’s and O’s of Kentucky’s System

Following Tuesday’s game vs. Mississippi State, John Calipari mentioned the possibility of playing freshman wing Dontaie Allen this season if the situation is right.

Three days later, Calipari offered an update on the in-state talent from Falmouth, Kentucky.

“I’m not sure he’s ready yet,” Calipari said. “He’s going hard, but he’s never gone this hard. Now we need to see if he’s in any kind of shape. I asked Kenny [Payne], he said, ‘I don’t think he’s ready yet.’ So, we’ll see. I don’t want to say, but what I don’t want to do is use a year of his eligibility for no reason. There’s got to be some reason we’re doing it.”

 

Related: John Calipari Says he Met with Freshman Dontaie Allen

With nine games remaining in the regular season, I’m not sure Calipari will throw out a full season of eligibility for Allen to only use him in a few games. The only way I see Allen playing this season is if the Wildcats suffer an injury to one of the eight players in the rotation and lets hope they avoid that situation.

While Allen is working his way back to playing shape, that’s not what he is behind in the most.

“He’s behind in what we run and knowing all the stuff that we go through. He’s behind, but he’s trying. The great thing about this team is, we’ve got a bunch of great guys that are talking to him. ‘Go down, stay down, you’re coming off me.’ ‘Yeah, this time, on that pass!’ So, it’s funny to watch but you kind of let it go because I want them to be coaching each other.”

You have to think, Allen hasn’t played in a game since suffering a torn ACL in December 2018. While he he has been able to watch what the Wildcats do in practice, it’s different when you’re in live situations having to make decisions.

The good news is even if Allen doesn’t take the floor for Kentucky this season, he should be full go this summer to get ready for next year. Calipari will make sure to make the best decision for Allen and the one that is fair to him.

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