Athlete Bryant Allen Commits to Minnesota

Bryant Allen, a 6-foot athlete from Maplewood-Richmond Heights, announced his college choice tonight at the Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club. Allen, who visited Minnesota last month, picked the Gophers over interest from Missouri and Kansas. Allen, a basketball standout, hopes to play both sports in college. Head coach Tim Brewster had a home visit with Allen last night, closing the deal.

Bryant Allen, who became the 18th player to verbally commit to Minnesota, helped Maplewood-Richmond Heights to a 13-1 mark this season, losing to eventual state champion Clark County 39-14.

Allen was named first-team Class 2 as an all-purpose performer. He caught 65 passes for 1,005 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed 54 times for 343 yards and 10 scores. Allen returned nine kickoffs for an average of 23.1 yards and averaged 41.8 on his punts. He had 36 solo tackles and eight assists as a defensive back. Allen finished with two tackles for losses of seven yards.

Allen led the Blue Devils to a 56-55 last-second triumph over Lutheran North in the Class 3 title basketball game after his team trailed by 19 points in the first half and was down 32-16 at halftime. Allen scored 15 of his 25 points in the second half, including a game-winning layup with four seconds remaining in the game to give Maplewood-Richmond Heights its first lead of the game.

Allen averaged 25.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 4.5 steals per game last year. He shot 55.4% from the field, 51.3% from three-point range and 82.8% from the line.

The Blue Devils are off to a 6-1 start this season and face Memphis (TN) Mitchell, a state runner-up Saturday.