Hall Of Famer Ray Allen Takes Slight Shot At Rick Pitino On Why He Chose Connecticut

Allen said Jim Calhoun was more of a players coach whereas Rick Pitino of Kentucky was too self-absorbed.

Aug 12, 2023; Springfield, MA, USA; Ray Allen arrives at Symphony Hall for the 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

It all came down to Connecticut and coach Jim Calhoun and Kentucky and coach Rick Pitino for Ray Allen when he was going through the college recruiting process in high school.

Allen said he found Calhoun to be more of a players coach who spoke about a team-first attitude. It was because of Calhoun's mentality he selected Connecticut over Kentucky.

"When you go to Kentucky, they are going to butter you up," Allen said during an interview in 1992. "I went in on Midnight Madness. I went there and Pitino is so high on a pedestal, he does everything and talks about himself. It's 'I' before his players or the team. He always talks about himself and what he has."

Allen recalled a story about going to a restaurant bearing Pitino's name in Lexington with his host Jamal Mashburn. They were sitting at a table on one side of the restaurant. Pitino was sitting at a the bar with his friends on the other side of the restaurant. Pitino never came over to say hello to Allen.

"I joked that if it was Coach [Jim] Calhoun he'd be sitting down at our table getting our food for us, because he was really one of us."

Allen won championships with the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics in his 1,300-game NBA career. He also won a gold medal in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Scott Salomon is a contributor to Back In the Day NBA. He can be reached at scottsalomon67@gmail.com.

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