1996 Big East Player of the Year Ray Allen says he almost brought his talents to the Southeastern Conference. Before visiting UConn, Ray was already committed to Alabama after his first and only college recruitment trip. The Hall of Famer said he enjoyed Tuscaloosa, but the reason for the early commitment wasn’t entirely his decision.
(Via Knuckleheads with Quentin Richardson & Darius Miles):
“I committed to Alabama. That was my first visit and I had such a good time. The assistant coach pressured me into the commitment. He pulled into a parking lot before he dropped me off and kind of attacked me by saying, ‘You need to make a responsible decision. Alabama is the place and if you don’t choose now I got other people that will choose by the time you leave here and the spot will be gone.’ So I said yes to him. When I got back, I had a coach that said, ‘Listen, Alabama might be the place for you, but you won’t know if you were right or wrong if you don’t take these other visits.’ So then I went to UConn.”
