Jamel Allen, a highly athletic 6-foot-6 senior wing from Brentwood High School on Long Island, committed to Iona College on Thursday morning.
“I feel like me and the coaching staff have a connection like no other,” Allen, who also considered St. Peter’s and Siena, told SNY.tv.
“The first thing I want to do is make a relationship with my teammates and have them gain that trust in me and once that’s done we’re going to sit down and talk about this championship that we want.”
Iona associate head coach Jared Grasso watched Allen and Brentwood at the SNY Invitational last month, where he went for 16 points in the second half as Brentwood came from behind to defeat Mount Vernon 70-67 in the consolation game. He finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, including 15 points in the third quarter.
On Tuesday, Allen went for 40 points as Brentwood lost to Half Hollow Hills West, 86-69, in the Suffolk County championship game.
“I think he can play anywhere,” Brenwood coach Anthony Jimenez said at the SNY Invitational. “I really do. I have a lot of faith in him. I think he’s just going to continue to become a better player and a more complete person, and it’s going to play dividends for him later.”
Allen is the second player from the SNY Invitational to commit this month, following Cardozo guard Aaron Walker, who pledged to Manhattan earlier this week.
Allen is Iona’s fifth commit in 2016 following wing Jan Svandrik of Indian Hills Community College, two guard Deandre Turner of Broward County College and power forward Kai Mitchell and wing E.J. Crawford of St. Thomas More.
Turner is the adopted son of Clippers coach Doc Rivers, as this story details.
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