Philadelphia 76ers Select PHS Alum Lavoy Allen

Most potential NBA draftees like to spend draft night with family and friends, but not Lavoy Allen. He wanted to watch the draft alone.

Unsure if he’d even be picked, Allen looked on nervously and anxiously as 49 players were taken ahead of him.

Finally, with the 50th overall pick, the Philadelphia 76ers selected the former Pennsbury High School standout.

“I was a little nervous, but once the Sixers picked me I got a lot of phone calls,” the softspoken Allen said during a press conference on Friday afternoon.

Philadelphia 76ers General Manager Ed Stefanski explained why the team chose the local Temple product.

“If Lavoy can rebound and defend, and that’s what you get, we’ll be very happy with that,” Stefanski said. “We know he can defend the low block, and we know he can rebound. He was arguably the best player in the Atlantic 10 -- all four years he played there. You know, a lot of people wanted more out of him. I think he does things so smooth at times that people think he’s not putting out as much. So, we’ll see, and again, we took him because of his defense on the low block, and we know he can rebound the ball in the NBA.”

Due to Allen’s soft-spoken manner, he often drew criticism for not showing enough emotion on the floor.

“I have heard people say that I have to play with more energy, a higher motor,” Allen said. “I just want to go out there and compete and try to work on every aspect of my game. I am just trying to get better as an overall player.”

Amazingly, Allen didn’t start his basketball career until the eighth grade. The ninth grade forward, standing 6 feet 9 inches tall, decided to make a commitment towards basketball and spent numerous hours in the gym to work on his game.

Allen started during his sophomore season at Pennsbury, and saw drastic improvements during his junior year where he averaged 12 points and nine rebounds per game.

As a senior, Allen transformed himself into the 110th overall prospect in the country according to scout.com. He averaged 13 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and three blocks a contest. He and then high school teammate, Dalton Pepper, led the Falcons to the second round of the PIAA playoffs before losing to Harrisburg High School.

Allen chose to further his basketball career at Temple University. He also had offers from Rutgers, LaSalle and St. Joseph’s.

At Temple, Allen started all four years and played in the NCAA Tournament four times. The Owls won three consecutive Atlantic 10 Championships from 2008-2010. He left the school as the all-time leading rebounder with 1,147.