Jerome Byron Allen (born January 28, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player and college head coach. He is the former head coach for the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

men's basketball team, until resigning after the 2014–15 season. He most recently served as an assistant coach for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA).

Early life

Allen was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

on January 28, 1973. His family struggled to make ends meet, and he lived with 18 relatives in a five-bedroom home, sharing a bed with his sister. Some of his family members sold crack cocaine, and his father left his family at age 10. He attended public school in his youth but attended

Episcopal Academy The Episcopal Academy, founded in 1785, is a private, co-educational school for grades Pre-K through 12 based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Prior to 2008, the main campus was located in Merion Station and the satellite campus was located in ...

for high school. He became one of the top high school basketball players in the country at Episcopal, receiving scholarship offers at 16 schools. He chose to attend Penn to study accounting at the Wharton School; he had planned on being an accountant in his youth.

College playing career

Allen was a four-year starter at Penn alongside future NBA players

Matt Maloney Matthew Patrick Maloney (born December 6, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player who played seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early years Maloney was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, but grew up in ...

and

Ira Bowman Ira Bowman (born June 11, 1973) is a retired American professional basketball player formerly in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently an assistant men's basketball coach for Auburn University. He attended Providence Colleg ...

. Allen and the Quakers were undefeated from his freshman season to his junior season in the Ivy League. The team's 48-game conference winning streak is the best in Ivy League history. He averaged 13.7 points per game in his career for Penn.

Professional playing career

Minnesota Timberwolves

Allen was selected 49th overall (2nd round, pick 20) by the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

in the

1995 NBA draft The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams that were added for 1995–96 ...

. Until Miye Oni was selected in 2019, Allen was the most recent Ivy League player to be drafted to the NBA. He played 41 games for the Timberwolves, averaging 2.6 points per game in 8.8 minutes per game.

Indiana Pacers

Allen signed with the Indiana Pacers for the 1996 NBA season. He played 51 games, averaging about 3 points in 14 minutes per game. He did not finish the season with the Pacers.

Denver Nuggets

Allen signed with the Denver Nuggets and played 25 games to finish the 1996 NBA season.

Europe

Allen also spent time in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(with

Lottomatica Roma Virtus Roma 1960, commonly known as Virtus Roma, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. The club, named Pallacanestro Virtus Roma competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for decades until 2020, whe ...

Carpisa Napoli S.S. Basket Napoli was an Italian professional basketball club that was based in Naples, Campania. The club's full name was Società Sportiva Basket Napoli. The team ceased activities in 2009. For past club sponsorship names, see #Sponsorship na ...

and Snaidero Udine),

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Coaching career

Penn Quakers

In 2009, he became an assistant coach for the University of Pennsylvania's men's basketball team. On December 14, 2009, Allen was named interim head coach of the Penn men's basketball team after the firing of Glen Miller. On March 31, 2010, he was announced as the new permanent head coach of the Penn Men's Basketball team. He resigned his position as head coach effective on March 10, 2015.

Boston Celtics

Allen joined the Boston Celtics in 2015 under head coach

Brad Stevens Bradley Kent Stevens (born October 22, 1976) is an American basketball executive and former coach who is currently the president of basketball operations and de facto general manager for the Boston Celtics. Born and raised in Zionsville, Indian ...

. Allen was one of Boston's longer-tenured assistants and was with the team for all but two seasons of the Brad Stevens era.

Detroit Pistons

In summer 2021, Allen announced he was leaving the Celtics' coaching staff to join

Dwane Casey Dwane Lyndon Casey (born April 17, 1957) is an American retired basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons before transitioning to a front office position with the team. He is a former NCAA basketball pla ...

in Detroit.

Bribery case and related NCAA sanctions

In October 2018, Allen pleaded guilty to accepting an $18,000 bribe in 2014 while the head coach at Penn to help a student get on the recruiting list in order to get accepted to the university. He was ordered to pay back $18,000 in addition to a $200,000 fine. He would testify on behalf of the federal government against the man he said had bribed him – Phillip Esformes. During Esformes's trial, Allen testified that he had received about $300,000 in bribes from Esformes, and that the student in question was Esformes's son. On February 26, 2020, the NCAA announced penalties against Allen and the Penn men's basketball program stemming from the bribes. The program was placed on two years' probation but did not receive a postseason ban. Allen received a 15-year

show-cause penalty In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a show-cause penalty is an administrative punishment ordering that any NCAA penalties imposed on a coach found to have committed major rules violations will stay in effect against that coach ...

from the NCAA, effective until February 20, 2035. It is the longest ever handed down to a (former) head coach. During this period, any school that hires Allen must "show cause" for why it should not be sanctioned for doing so. In an unusual move, if Allen gets a head coaching job after the show-cause expires, he must sit out the first half of the first season of his return. It is very difficult for a head coach to return to the collegiate ranks even after a show-cause expires, since many presidents and athletic directors are extremely reluctant to hire someone with a show-cause on his record. Only four coaches have ever worked in college basketball again after receiving a show-cause.

Head coaching record

References

External links

*
coach, Boston Celtics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Jerome 1973 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American people convicted of bribery Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Philadelphia Boston Celtics assistant coaches Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Denver Nuggets players Detroit Pistons assistant coaches Episcopal Academy alumni Goodwill Games medalists in basketball Indiana Pacers players Liga ACB players Limoges CSP players Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks Minnesota Timberwolves players NCAA sanctions P.A.O.K. BC players Pallalcesto Amatori Udine players Penn Quakers men's basketball coaches Penn Quakers men's basketball players S.S. Basket Napoli players Saski Baskonia players Shooting guards Ülker G.S.K. basketball players Veroli Basket players Virtus Roma players