Prospect Update: Malik Allen (2021)
Last weekend at Kings of the Court in Des Moines, Kingdom Hoops Navy 16u was outstanding, Malik Allen was terrific while helping them to a title.
The Des Moines North guard has long-been identified as one of the Class of 2021’s best guards, and his elite quickness and athleticism was on full display during the title run. It’s his jumper, though, that he’s been working most to improve.
“I’ve definitely been working on my shot and my mechanics, really like the basics. I’ve always known I can get to the basket and finish, but I’m looking to get more efficient shooting-wise,” said Allen.
His sophomore season with the Polar Bears was marred by an early suspension, but when he returned, Allen showed just what he can be capable of, scoring 12.1 points per game on 49% shooting and also 2.9 assists per game.
Allen will be the leading returning scorer for the Polar Bears after seniors Tyreke Locure, Gatdoar Bijiek and Lino Malual graduated.
“It was humbling playing with those three seniors, Tyreke, Lino And Gatdoar. I was just soaking up all the knowledge at practice. I would just sit back and watch sometimes, really,” said Allen.
“(Next season) the keys will be passed down, I was always ready but I just had to sit back for a couple years, but now the car’s in my hands.”
Ahead of his junior season, Allen still has a big summer ahead with one of the area’s best teams, Kingdom Hoops Navy 16u.
“Kingdom is like home. We got some good guys, Manny (Austin) is like my brother, Payton (Sandfort) all those guys are like my brothers on the court, it’s a great unit,” Allen said. “Tim (Lubke) is a great coach, he lets us play free and get up and down the court and play fast; it’s kind of like North, just in an AAU sense,” said Allen, who mentioned his goals for the summer.
“When the ball’s in my hands I’m just looking to do good things get my teammates involved and just do my thing.”
His long-term goals?
“I definitely want to be elite and I want to be mentioned as one of the greatest to ever play Iowa high school basketball,” Allen said. “And in two years I just want to go to a good school.”