Herd extend offer to Allison

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Over the past four years, Ky’re Allison has put up Division I type of numbers on a nightly basis. Now, he has an opportunity to replicate those statistics for a Division I school.

On Thursday, Allison was officially offered a scholarship by Marshall University.

“I was happy. For me to get that scholarship offer shows all my hard work paid off finally,” Allison said. “It feels really good.”

Allison finished his career as the all-time leading scorer at Portsmouth, amassing 1,688 points for the Trojans and head coach Eugene Collins.

“It’s huge. It’s not very often, and first year in my tenure at Portsmouth, where we’ve had a Division I player on the basketball side,” Collins said. “There have been a few kids on the football side that have played in Division I but it’s huge for our basketball program.

“Marshall is on the upswing. It’s just a great opportunity for him and the whole community as a whole. It’s close; people can come and see him play. It’s a special moment, not only for him, but for me as his coach and the whole school.”

Allison admitted the feeling is still surreal and will probably take a little time to sink it.

“It hasn’t yet but I think it will next week when I sign,” Allison said. “That’s when it’ll sink in.”

The opportunity shouldn’t come as a surprise to Allison who has always had higher aspirations, even when his peers might have shared similar talent but didn’t have the same desire.

“Watching people before me that had the talent but they were never into it, I learned a lot from them,” Allison said. “I hear from a lot of people telling me not to do what they did.”

For Collins, who has coached Allison during his high-school career, the strides over the last four years have been monumental.

“He’s made huge strides,” Collins said. “You’re talking about a kid coming off a broken leg going into his junior year and recovered from that to have a phenomenal year. He’s one of three kids in the history of Portsmouth High School to be named First-Team All-State two years in a row. One of two kids in the history of the school to be Player of the Year in the state. It just goes on and on with the accolades.

“I couldn’t be prouder and happier for him. He’s worked his tail off to get to this level and I really think his better days are ahead of him.

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Michael Hamilton | PDT Ky’re Allison (center) poses with his parents after becoming the all-time leading scorer in Portsmouth Basketball history on January 27, 2016 at Portsmouth High School. Allison was formally offered a scholarship to play basketball with the Thundering Herd of Marshall University.
http://portsmouth-dailytimes.aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2016/04/web1_Ky-re-Allison-with-parents.jpgMichael Hamilton | PDT Ky’re Allison (center) poses with his parents after becoming the all-time leading scorer in Portsmouth Basketball history on January 27, 2016 at Portsmouth High School. Allison was formally offered a scholarship to play basketball with the Thundering Herd of Marshall University.

By Chris Slone

[email protected]

Reach Chris Slone at 740-353-3101, ext 1930, or on Twitter @crslone.

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