James Byars Allen Jr. (born June 15, 1971) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach. He was the head men's basketball coach at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

(Army) from 2016 to 2023. Allen was the head men's basketball coach at Averett University in

Danville, Virginia Danville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, located in the Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River. It was a center of tobacco production and was an area of Confederate activity ...

from 2004 to 2010.

Playing career

Born in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, Allen lived in

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

for much of his childhood; his father was a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who served in the U.S. Army for 20 years. In eleventh grade, he moved to

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is ...

, where he graduated from Northside High School in 1989. At

Emory and Henry College Emory & Henry College (E&H or Emory) is a private liberal arts college in Emory, Virginia. The campus comprises of Washington County, which is part of the Appalachian highlands of Southwest Virginia. Founded in 1836, Emory & Henry College is ...

, Allen was a four-year starter for the

Emory and Henry Wasps The Emory & Henry Wasps (also E&H Wasps) are the athletic teams that represent Emory & Henry College, located in Emory, Virginia, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Wasps will compete as members of the South Atlantic Conference as t ...

, playing in 117 games and ranked second all-time in assists with 455, and fourth all-time in steals with 162. In 2008, he was inducted in the Emory and Henry Athletic Hall of Fame. Allen graduated from Emory and Henry in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in accounting.

Coaching career

After graduation, Allen got his coaching start at his alma mater, where he stayed for three seasons before joining

Don DeVoe Donald Eugene DeVoe (born December 31, 1941) is a former American college basketball coach and former player. DeVoe played college basketball for Ohio State University, and later served as the head coach for Virginia Tech, the University of Wyom ...

's staff at

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

, where he was part of two Patriot League title squads in 1997 and 1998. From 2002 to 2004, Allen was an assistant at Wofford, before landing his first head coaching job at Averett, where he took over a 0–25 team to lead it to four NCAA Tournament appearances and 97–70 overall record in six seasons, as well as being named a

USA South Athletic Conference The USA South Athletic Conference (formerly the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or the Dixie Conference) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member schools are located in North Carolina and Virginia. H ...

Coach of the year in 2005, 2007, and 2008. In 2010, Allen joined

Zach Spiker Zachary John Spiker (born September 30, 1976) is an American college basketball coach and the current head basketball coach for the Drexel Dragons men's basketball, Drexel Dragons. A native of Morgantown, West Virginia, Spiker played college bask ...

's staff at

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, and was elevated to the head coaching position when Spiker left for Drexel on March 30, 2016.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Jimmy 1971 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Army Black Knights men's basketball coaches Averett Cougars men's basketball coaches Emory and Henry Wasps men's basketball coaches Emory and Henry Wasps men's basketball players Navy Midshipmen men's basketball coaches Wofford Terriers men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball players from Roanoke, Virginia People from West Point, New York Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball coaches from Virginia Basketball players from El Paso, Texas