KENNER, La. — Will Allen’s time as a Bonnabel Bruin came to an end March 5th with a loss to Hahnville in the Quarterfinal round of the Class 5A playoffs.
Head Coach Micah Hagans says the next morning Will was itching to get back in the gym and they haven’t stopped working since.
“99 percent of the basketball players are the same. They come to practice when their coach asks them to work out, and then there’s the one-percenters. Those guys go all out. They’re here when nobody else is there. They work harder than anybody else and those are the guys that usually go to the next level. I call Will a one-percenter because he’s always in the gym,” says Bonnabel Head Basketball Coach Micah Hagans
Will has taken advantage of every opportunity to get better every single day, working out up to 5 times a day from dusk until dawn.
Not because he feels like he has to but because of his passion for the game and willingness to improve each day.
“I really fell in love with it because of my brother. I saw him playing basketball and going places, travel places that I had never been to. Me at 10-years-old seeing that, it had clicked in my mind that I can really do something with my life with a basketball or a football, but I chose that basketball side of it,” says Will Allen.
Will Allen averaged 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 28 games his senior season.
He was named the Class 5A most outstanding player.
Will signed to play his college ball at Louisiana Tech for Coach Eric Konkol, someone who’s put in the work around the clock for a couple of years now to add Will to his program.
“Louisiana Tech came in from day one and they were all in. They were all in on Will. A relationship with a head coach an make your career because the head coach is a guy that’s going to push you. If he believes in you, he’s going to make your career work. We don’t want him in the transfer portal, we want him to finish his career where he starts and have a great career. We know Coach Konkel believes in him. He’s one of the guys that called and I told Will, the importance of the head coach recruiting you is vital to your career and Coach Konkel just outworked everyone else,” says Hagans.
That’s what Will is doing every day.
Speed, strength, footwork, shooting, you name it, he’s working at it.
His former and future coaches have taken notice and continue to push him each day.
They tell him, “you got to do more, do more, do more. So, I just try to keep them proud and keep making myself better,”says Allen.
He continues to do so to this day, and will continue to do so when he sets foot on Louisiana Tech’s campus next month.