Personal Statement

My name is Sam Allen, and I am a 6'4" SG/SF in my Senior year at Bullard High School in Fresno, CA. I enjoy playing basketball because it has helped me get healthy, stronger, and it has helped me learn to deal with adversity and has greatly improved my focus. I also enjoy being a part of a team and always being able to work on improving myself in every aspect of the game. I put in a lot of work both on and off the court and during the off season. I worked hard all summer to improve my shot consistency and build my strength to help fill out my frame, as I am still growing. This work ethic has helped me contribute to my team this season, and I was named a Team Captain. During the Clovis West Nike Invitational in December, I earned Player, or co-Player, of the Game for my team in all four of our games. 

I am currently playing for a high school team and coach with very high expectations, such as requiring a constant full court press and relentless ball pressure on defense, as well as playing at a very fast pace. I pride myself on being somebody that the coaches can rely on to have a good attitude and always give maximum effort on and off the court. Offensively, I am a shooter who can also create opportunities for my teammates by stretching the defense and finding the open man. On defense, I have the length to contest almost every shot and am always looking for opportunities to create extra possessions by taking charges, forcing turnovers, and winning loose balls. This season, with changing team dynamics, I have been asked to learn to guard and play multiple positions on both sides of the ball. This has helped me become more versatile and help my team in new ways.

In the classroom I have challenged myself to take many honors and AP classes, and with my current augmented GPA being a 4.05, I am on track to graduate a valedictorian. I will bring that same focus and work ethic to my college courses.

My goals for this season are to continue developing every aspect of my game to help my team win a valley championship and make state playoffs. I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to go to college, earn a degree, and continue growing and learning so I can positively represent and contribute to the success of a college basketball program. I am hoping to be a part of a program surrounded by people as committed and passionate about the game as I am. I would also love to play for a coach who can push me be successful by helping me to continue to improve, always holding me accountable, and being somebody I can talk to off the court.