Florida Gators

NEW YORK — No one in the Florida locker room was smiling more than KeVaughn Allen last Saturday night. It wasn't because Allen had erupted for a big offensive game. Quite the opposite actually. Allen scored just four points and ran his two-game NCAA Tournament line to 3-for-21 from the floor and 1-for-13 from the 3-point line. 

HIs ear-to-ear grin had more to do with the end result, a blowout defeat of Virginia, meaning the Gators were moving on to the Sweet 16. For that, Allen was ecstatic. 
 

But he also was delighted that few if any microphones or cameras were headed his way. 

Hey K! Got something to say? 

The head just shakes. 

"It's not just to strangers," explained Ahna Curry. "He's just always been a quiet person." 

Curry is Allen's mother. Talk to her for five minutes and you'll learn more about her son than if you spent five days alone with Allen in a car driving cross-country. It should be quite the scene if a gaggle of reporters or TV crews in the media capital of the world work their way Thursday to the Madison Square Garden locker of UF's leading scorer to speak about fourth-seeded Florida (26-8) facing eighth-seeded Wisconsin (27-9) in Friday night's East Region semifinal. 

If they're looking for "The KeVaughn Allen Story" the best place to go is to the folks back in North Little Rock, Ark.

Example: When her son was in elementary school he had minimal dialogue with his teachers. Lots of nods, shakes and shrugs. That made things problematic when it came time for the verbal portion of the State of Arkansas's standardized tests. Because Allen would not respond to his teachers, they invited his mother to the classroom to read the prompts while they sat behind a barrier and listened to his answers. 

Not much has changed. 

Allen hates the Q&A thing. 

Actually, he hates the speaking thing. 

Example: Allen had a high school class where the mid-term exam was a speech in front of the class. He refused to participate. Almost flunked the class, according to his mother.  

"Let me put it this way," said Kelvin Parker, Allen's uncle and former club coach. "He's not starting any conversations." 

The Gators would love to see the 6-foot-2, 183-pound Allen, averaging 13.4 points per game, get people talking about his basketball skills, preferably with a hot hand from the get-go against the Badgers, an excellent defensive team and battle-tested tournament squad. After a run of seven straight games scoring in double-figures — including back-to-back outputs of 26 and 24 points against still-alive South Carolina and Kentucky — Allen totaled just 11 points in the two regional games at Orlando. His defense, however, was terrific, as was his decision-making (5 assists, no turnovers). 

His shot, though, wasn't there, to the point he balked at taking some open ones against the Cavaliers. Exactly no one on the Florida sidelines — player or coach — wants that. Coach Mike White even scolded Allen about his hesitation during practice Monday. 

"If you don't shoot the ball, KeVaughn, I'm suspending you!" White shouted. 

Allen went 1-for-11 in the lopsided first-round defeat of East Tennessee State and White was fine with it. More than fine. He actually praised Allen in the post-game interview session, saying he'd rather Allen go 1-for-11 than 1-for-4 and go down aggressively rather than passively. 

As far as the Gators are concerned, as long as Allen is taking good, open shots, the team will be better for it. 

"KeVaughn's fine," senior point guard Kasey Hill. "We all know what he's capable of." 

Opponents do, too. 
 
Ever since he got a plastic Penny Hardaway mini-goal for his third Christmas, Allen has had a gift for putting the ball in the goal. From the time he was two, little KeVaughn had a little basketball with him at all times. At the age of four, he was playing with an Under-8 youth team and being scolded daily for dribbling around the house. In sixth grade, Allen was banned from participating in church league because he was so much better than the other kids. 

The next year, playing as a seventh-grader for his middle school, he stole the ball, went the length of the court and dunked with his mom in the stands.

Allen was 13. 

"Everybody in the gym was like, 'Whoa!' " Curry said. "Me included."

The ensuing years were about Allen starring on the AAU circuit and at North Little Rock High. Regarding the former, he played for Parker's team, the Wings, alongside fellow Arkansan Malik Monk, now the Southeastern Conference's scoring leader at Kentucky, and Skal Labassiere, formerly of Kentucky and a 2016 first-round NBA pick of the Sacramento Kings. The Wings won their age-group national championship. 

In high school, Allen was a four-star prospect who led NLR to three straight state titles — twice over Monk and rival Bentonville — and was named the tournament Most Valuable Player as both a sophomore and senior. Allen averaged 25.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.1 steals per game as a senior, so with that trio of championships all the statewide buzz zeroed in on whether he'd choose to join one of his NLR teammates, point guard Anton Beard, and play for the home-state Razorbacks. 

Little did anyone know the decision had already been made. 

Three months before the state title game, Allen signed with Florida, choosing the Gators over Arkansas and Connecticut. He'd done it quietly and with zero fanfare.

His way.  

"It was going to be hard enough for KeVaughn to be on his own for the first time, so I did not want him to go somewhere he'd be miserable," said Curry, who called his closest family members, including her father, a diehard Razorbacks fan, to help with the decision process. "He just kept saying, 'I like Florida. I want to go to Florida.' We told him not to worry about social media and all that stuff; that those who truly supported KeVaughn Allen would support him in a Gator uniform." 

Added Parker: "KeVaughn's never been what you would call a follower. He's always been one to go his own path. I think he just felt it was time for him to go off and do something on his own." 

A call was made to then-UF coach Billy Donovan and his staff. There would be no press conference. No interviews. Not even an announcement. Allen, who signed his letter-of-intent in November of 2014, didn't want to deal with the fallout throughout his senior season.

In April of '15, UF finally announced its signing class, ruffling some feathers in the Ozark State. Some people he knew even started treating him differently. More standoffish. 

"KeVaughn didn't care," Parker said. 

Two weeks later, though, Donovan went to the NBA Oklahoma City Thunder. Soon after, reports surfaced in Arkansas that Allen was backing out of his Florida commitment and reconsidering staying home. 

"We had no idea where that came from," Curry said. "All it did was get the Arkansas fans hyped up, thinking there was a chance. I was like, 'KeVaughn, is there a chance?' He just said, 'No.' "

One word. Of course. 

Donovan had spoken to Allen, explaining his reasons for leaving Florida, but making a pitch to stick with the Gators to see what happened. Within a week, White was named Florida's next coach and Donovan was back on the phone vouching for his successor and asking Allen not to make a decision until meeting with White in person. Allen agreed.  

White and his assistants flew to Little Rock before they ever set foot in Gainesville. That's how much they thought of Allen. They brought video of their teams at Louisiana Tech to show Allen their style of play and how he'd fit in. Through it all, there was a lot of awkward silence. White figured the worst. 

"I'd heard he was really, really shy, but I thought it was more that he had zero interest in us," White said. "He just kind of sat there."

Mostly because his decision had already been made. When the coaches left, Allen's mother asked him. 

"Well?" 

"I'm good." 
 
Allen's been a good Gator since. Sometimes great. He was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team last season when he was second on the squad in scoring at 11.6 points per game. This year, he garnered First-Team All-SEC honors, averaging 14.2 points in league play, while shooting 48 percent from the floor, a team-best 42 percent from the 3-point arc, plus 86.7 from the free-throw line. 

His greatest struggles haven't had anything to do with basketball, but rather being away from his mother. 

"He's always been something of a mama's baby," Parker said. 

Obviously, that's OK with Curry, who definitely has a pulse on the situation. The two talk on the phone often. And, yes, he does actually talk to her. That's why she knows when KeVaughn goes quiet and answers questions with "Yes," "No" or "I don't know," it's his way of passing on a hint.

"Time for his mother to make a visit to Gainesville," she said. 

It's no coincidence that some of Allen's best games have come when his mother — "He calls me 'Miss Ahna' now because he says he's all grown up," she said — has been in the house. Home and away.  

Example: In playing before a hostile Arkansas crowd at Bud Walton Arena to open the SEC season, Allen was showered with boos throughout the game. Not that he didn't expect it, but they just kept coming. His mother had a front-row seat fhat night. At one point, Allen walked passed her. "Miss Ahna, you hearing all that?" She nodded. He returned a smile. "Well, watch this," he said. Her boy went downcourt and bombed in one of his five 3s that night on the way to a game-high 21 points. 

Miss Ahna was not in Orlando last weekend. As for New York? 

"I'll be there Friday," she said. 

KeVaughn Allen's smile will say it all.