Chris Allen follows Royce White to Iowa State

Iowa State is turning into a nice landing spot for troubled players.

First, it was Royce White. White spent a semester at Minnesota, but never saw the court as a result of some legal issues. He eventually left Minnesota, and earlier this month Fred Hoiberg, the new head coach at Iowa State, landed the former five-star recruit.

Today, Hoiberg landed another high-profile transfer from the Big Ten.

Chris Allen, the two-guard that was kicked off the Michigan State team just two weeks ago by Tom Izzo, announced today that he, too, would be taking his talents to Ames, IA.

Allen won't be eligible until the 2011-2012 season, and many believe the same to be true for White. But if Hoiberg can last the year, he will have a pretty good duo to begin to build a program around.
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Where will Chris Allen end up?

Last week, Tom Izzo ended all speculation about the status of junior Chris Allen, kicking him off the team.

Allen still has one year of eligibility left. If he wants to use that year of eligibility, he is going to need to enroll in a school sometime this month in order to sit out the 2010-2011 season per transfer rules.

Yesterday, the news, broken by Gary Parrish, made the rounds that Allen would be visiting Iowa State. Parrish also said that Baylor and South Florida were in the mix.

This came four days after The Detroit News published a story where Allen's mother claimed he had received interest from Notre Dame, UConn, Memphis, and South Florida, among others. UConn, however, has said that there hasn't been any contact from them.

If I had to make a guess, I would say that Allen ends up at South Florida. Stan Heath is a Detroit native and a former assistant to Izzo. He is also known for giving kids -- Mike Mercer, Anthony Crater -- second and third chances that they don't get from other programs.

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Tom Izzo ends the Chris Allen speculation

After quite a bit of speculation over the status of Michigan State's Chris Allen, Tom Izzo's hammer came down this afternoon.

"It's been no secret that Chris Allen’s been in a tenuous position since spring," Izzo said in the press release. "There were multiple obligations that Chris had to meet in order to return for his senior season. While he did make progress through the summer, he has failed to meet all the obligations and will not be a part of our program this fall.

"I know he's going to be a great player. He deserves another chance to play basketball somewhere, but it’s in everyone’s best interest that it be somewhere other than Michigan State. Like every player, he has to mature a little bit. I think a year away from the game will be beneficial for his development as a person and a player."

Chris Allen has been dismissed from the Michigan State basketball team.
(photo credit: Washington Post)

Well, that's that, and in this case, the "that" could very well be for the best.

Its pretty difficult to get kicked off a team by Tom Izzo. In fact, up to this point in Tom Izzo's 15 career at Michigan State, it has been impossible. Allen is the first player he has had to kick off the team. Consider that for a second. How much of a distraction must Allen have been for Izzo to make this decision? When Izzo suspended Allen before the Big Ten tournament, he claimed Allen was not a good teammate, saying:

He's just got to learn that he has a responsibility, whether it's curfews, whether it's a practice, whether it's caring about one another, if I tell guys they’ve got to do stuff with each other.

If Allen was this much of a distraction, isn't it best that the Spartans move forward without him?

Allen can play. He averaged 8.2 ppg, played 25.5 minutes, and was regarded as the Spartans most dangerous three point threat, hitting a team best 59 triples. That perimeter shooting threat may be what MSU misses the most, but there is still plenty of talent on this roster to replace Allen. Kalin Lucas will be returning from the achilles injury that ended his NCAA Tournament. Durrell Summers is back, as is Korie Lucious. Perhaps most important is freshman Keith Appling, who may just be good enough to make Sparty forget about Allen.

Allen, who will be able to transfer and get eligible for the 2011-2012 season, wasted an opportunity to play in his third straight Final Four. And while he d the talent to be a valuable piece for the Spartans, he was clearly creating a divide in the locker. As they say, sometimes it is addition by subtraction.

Who doesn't feel better once the headache goes away?

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It looks like Chris Allen will be back at Michigan State

Tom Izzo isn't the only Spartan to be the center of a soap opera this summer.

Its no secret that Chris Allen, a rising senior on the Michigan State team, has been in Izzo's doghouse. A starter early in the season, Allen saw his minutes decline throughout the season before eventually being suspended for the Big Ten tournament opener for a violation of team rules.

There has been plenty of speculation regarding Allen this offseason -- Izzo confirmed the speculation by saying "There is still one other player that’s up in the air and I have to make some tough decisions, and I will, and he’s got to make some tough decisions, so there might be one more coming or going" at a press conference in May -- but it is beginning to seem more and more likely that Allen will be in a Spartan jersey next season. First, there were reports that Allen was taking summer school classes. Now it appears that he is participating in a Pro-Am in Lansing with a team comprised of current, future, and former Spartans.

With or without Allen, Michigan State is going to have a loaded back court next season. Kalin Lucas, a former Big Ten player of the year that is coming off of a torn achilles tendon, will be joined by Korie Lucious, Durrell Summers, and talented freshman Keith Appling.

Allen will provide depth and experience for Izzo, but the Spartan's season doesn't hinge on Allen being a happy camper. But when your options are playing a smaller role than you would like on a team with a chance of making its third consecutive Final Four, or transferring, sitting out a season, and trying to find a role on another team for one season, maybe it is better to bite the bullet.

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