Allen Durham Goes To Europe

Allen Durham signs to play overseas! Yeah I know… late news, but here are some details I found out for you! Hopefully it’s not too cliché…

According to Coach Gary Bailey, “Allen has signed to play for CS Dinamo Buchuresti, in Bucharest, Romania.  He entertained other offers and conversations but he and his agent felt like this would give him the best exposure to advance.”

I am so pumped when I see even NCCAAI athletes get paid for doing what they love, but when a DII player goes pro, it’s even cooler because there was no scholarship money for them to play in college.

Coach Bailey went on to say: “Allen worked very hard towards his goal of playing overseas.  He played at every opportunity this past summer.  His dedication in the weight room is very apparent.  When he came to us as a freshman he was 6’4” and 179 lbs. (that’s what I weigh?!?)  He leaves at 6’6” 240.  He spent a lot of this summer working on his ball handling skills with a trainer (another one of our players) and really helped in getting to the basket off the dribble instead of just  his inside game.  His three point shot is really coming around too.  He could always shoot the three but we didn’t need him to do that here so he didn’t shoot many.

Allen was the absolute team player and a coach’s dream.  He could have scored almost anytime we got him the basketball.  I don’t know that we could have been so successful if he had not followed our concept of team first.  He would see double and triple teams all year.  I have seen many good players still try and do their own thing regardless of the defense but Allen always stayed with the game plan.  He was surrounded by some really good players that also knew how to use his strengths.”

So here’s my challenge to you fans who rooted so hard against GBC while AD was there. Root for this guy to succeed because at the end of the day we’re all on the same team. Pray for him to be a light to the Romanian fans that he will encounter. Allen has a great chance to be a light, and play some basketball at a professional level.  Hopefully AD can use former DCC Crusader Christian Laywer (Who you can follow on twitter @cklaywer… a must follow) as a guide on how to succeed overseas!

According to eurobasket.com, Durham is one of five Americans playing for CS Dinamo Buchuresti. And you can go to that site if you’d like to follow Durham’s adventures overseas; Durham’s first game in October the1^st. Again, I encourage all of you to send some prayers up so that Allen will soar above the competition, and we will soon be seeing him in the League.