Stanford’s Rosco Allen rises to the top
In a season of injury and disappointment for Stanford basketball, Rosco Allen has continued his remarkably consistent improvement.
The Hungarian-born forward can shoot a feathery three or turn into the Budapest Express on ferocious drives to the basket.
By now, his defenders can see his spin move in their sleep.
If he leaves the Farm after this season and enters the NBA draft, Pac-12 Networks analyst Kevin O’Neill says, I think he’s a second-round pick.
Program insiders believe he’ll return next season, but Allen said he won’t worry about his decision until after the season.
Head coach Johnny Dawkins hopes the 6-foot-9 redshirt junior comes back, especially since everybody else will.
[...] Stanford (13-12, 6-8 Pac-12) has four games left in the regular season, beginning with home games against USC (19-8, 8-6) Thursday at 8 p.m. and UCLA (15-12, 6-8) Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
In head coach Andy Enfield’s third year, the Trojans were 4-1, then 7-3 in league play but have lost three of their last four.
Allen has been on a hot streak lately, averaging 19.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in his last eight games, twice matching his career high of 25 points, against Colorado and Oregon.
The rigors of international play might have had a dampening effect on expressions of youthful exuberance.
Rosco helped Bishop Gorman High School to three state titles and had coaches like Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Oregon’s Dana Altman in his living room.
The Cardinal have had to weather the loss of two starters to injuries, point guard Robert Cartwright for the season and Travis for nearly three-quarters of the season.