Editor’s note: This story of one of the best basketball players ever to play for Princeton High School, Rick Allen, was originally published in print in December of 2022.
Rick Allen was a prolific scorer for the Princeton Tigers in the late 1960s, a shooter that was in range the moment he got off the bus.
He scored 46 points against St. Bede on Feb, 7, 1970, in a 93-73 Tiger victory, a single-game record which still stands at PHS more than a half century later.
“All I can remember is everything Rick put up, went in. He had quite a few of those nights, but that one was pretty unbelievable. He was something special,” said his friend Gary Polson, who was three years ahead of Allen in school.
Polson and Allen, who passed away on Christmas Day, 2022, from cancer, met through basketball and their shared loved of the game.
“We met on Sunday afternoons when Prouty Gym was open for town kids to come in and play basketball and we just hit it off and spent a lot of time together,” Polson said. “Can’t tell you the numbers of hundreds of hours we spent playing basketball at the old Covenant Children’s Home gym. Lot of good times and basketball memories together
“He was kind of my little brother I never had.”
Allen’s easy-going demeanor was deceiving when it came time to lace up the sneakers.
“He had a great personality, wonderful smile, but once he got on the court, he was a very determined individual. He played a great game,” said his classmate and teammate Jim Howard. “When you’d meet him, you wouldn’t think of the tenacity of being able to score the points on the court. When he got on the basketball court, people knew who Rick Allen was with his ability he had to score from any position on the court.”
“He was probably as hard-nosed a player for that era that I’ve ever seen,” Polson said. “He was just determined when he stepped on the floor that he was the best player out there and there was nobody that could stop him. He was the kind of guy you were glad that was on your team and the other team didn’t like. He just played that way.”
Allen tallied 1,017 career points, which was third at the time, and was a two-time unanimous NCIC All-Conference selection. He now stands as No. 10 all-time at Princeton, passed up by PHS seniors Grady Thompson and Teegan Davis during the 2022-23 season.
“I think he’d be proud to see Grady’s accomplishments. When I told him how good this team was, he was hoping he could come up here to see them play,” Polson said.
Polson and Howard both wonder what Allen would have done with the 3-point shot.
“If they had a 3-point shot, I’d be interested to know how many points he’d had or in that 46-point night how many he would have ended up with. Pretty special,” Polson said.
“Boy, Rick really could have done some damage if the 3-point line been there,” Howard said.
Howard said Allen’s jump shot was a thing of beauty.
“He had one of those remarkable jump shots. Just picture perfect,” he said. “He could stop on the dime and get the ball up. And then he had the ability to get these guys influenced with the jump shot that he could go ahead and pull it down and get the drive and make the layup.”
Allen was recruited by Illinois State and led the freshmen team (which were not eligible at that time) to what Polson called a “beatdown” over the Doug Collins-led ISU varsity. Allen transferred to McNeese State, but did not play.
But playing basketball and scoring points was not Allen’s life mission.
Allen spent decades in counseling, helping others overcome similar personal struggles he had in his life. He was still counseling a week up until his death.
At Allen’s memorial, Polson said there were countless “people standing up saying how he saved their lives. It was a pretty amazing story.”
It was truly his life’s mission.
“I think by far if you’d talk to Rick, he’d probably reference that as his biggest accomplishment in life more than anything,” Howard said.
All those lives saved certainly were Rick Allen’s best shots in life, long after his basketball days ended.
Kevin Hieronymus has been the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com