Northside grad Jimmy Allen introduced as men's basketball coach at Emory & Henry (2024)

ALLEN GREGORYBristol Herald Courier

EMORY — As a point guard at Emory & Henry from 1989-93, Jimmy Allen earned praise for his passionate playing style and consistent leadership under legendary head coach Bob Johnson.

On Thursday morning, the 52-year-old Allen stressed those same themes during his first press conference as the new head men’s basketball coach for the E&H Wasps. The school announced Allen’s hiring last week.

“This job is not something I really ever envisioned,” Allen said. “The timing is just so great at this point in my career.”

Allen has made a variety of stops in his coaching journey, including a seven-year stint as the head coach at Army West Point and a six-year building job at Averett University in Danville.

He spent the 2023-24 season as the associate coach at the University of New Hampshire alongside head coach and former E&H assistant Nathan Davis.

Last Monday was Allen’s first visit back to far Southwest Virginia since his coaching mentor at E&H died on Aug. 22, 2009, following a long struggle with cancer.

Allen, who played high school basketball at Northside under longtime coach Bill Pope, will now work in the same gym and occupy the same office as Johnson.

“It means everything,” Allen said. “I have so many incredible memories of going to school here and playing for Coach Johnson in the King Center.

“Coach Johnson pushed me to do my best. He inspired me to get into coaching, and also gave me my first opportunity to be an assistant coach here at Emory.”

Johnson won 370 games as the E&H head coach in a 27-year run that ended in 2007.

Sherry Johnson, Bob’s widow, was among a group of E&H graduates and officials on hand to greet Allen Thursday.

“I’ve been really fortunate in my coaching career to be around some great people, but Emory and the Johnsons have always been a big part of my family,” Allen said. “To have this position when Emory & Henry is making the move to one of the better Division II conferences in the country is exciting and challenging.”

Emory & Henry posted a 5-23 record this past season under former coach Ben Thompson, including a 2-18 mark in the South Atlantic Conference. The Wasps tied for last place in the SAC with Mars Hill.

A large number of players announced plans to transfer following the season, including leading scorer Jacob Dar, 6-8 junior forward Cade Looney (Grundy) and 6-9 sophom*ore Marshall Klug from Greensboro.

Allen said he has talked to the current E&H players via Zoom and phone calls. According to Allen, there are currently 13 athletes in the program.

“The coaching staff has done a good job bringing in a few kids that I think will be able to help us. I still think we can get a couple kids to round out that class, and I’m recruiting now,” Allen said. “We’ve got camps in a couple weeks so we will be able to get a lot of those players back on campus and we will get to know them in person.”

One of those new kids is Allen’s son James, a shooting guard who originally intended to play at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire after winning a state title last year as a high school senior.

“That’s a little surreal,” Allen said. “It’s been a dream for my son to play college basketball, and for him to do that at the same place I played is pretty awesome.”

No matter where he was coaching, Allen stayed in contact with the E&H basketball coaches and monitored the success of the program that was molded by his mentor.

“I’ve had Coach Johnson’s voice in my head for years,” Allen said. “He was always trying to bring out the best in people and he continues to do that for me.

“In this business and in life, it’s all about finding a place that speaks to you. As soon as I started this process with Emory & Henry, it felt that way to me.”