COM's Allen heading north

photo courtesy of Frankie Frost, MIJ

Rashaad Allen, out of College of Marin and Rodriguez High, has signed with the Alaska Nanooks of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The DII school is located in Fairbanks.

From Nanooks athletics:

"...[Rashaad] Allen, a 6-1 guard from the College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif., was a two-year letter winner for the Mariners. He was a member of the All-Bay Valley Conference Men's Basketball Team as a sophomore after he averaged 12.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game to lead Marin to a 16-10 record.

He connected on 74 percent of his free throw attempts and was the squad's top perimeter shooter, converting better than 43 percent of his three-point tries. As a collegiate rookie in 2011-12, Allen averaged 5.1 points and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 84 percent from the charity stripe.

“Rashaad brings experience at the guard position and is a very efficient player,” Durham said. “He shoots a good percentage, makes good decisions with the ball and brings energy defensively and rebounding-wise. He will blend in well with our returning perimeter players and add quickness to our team.”

“Not only is he a tough individual physically and mentally, he's just committed to winning and because of that will do whatever it takes to get the job done,” Marin head coach Dave Granucci said. “He's skilled, he can shoot three and is a playmaker as well in terms of getting to the basket. He's worked tremendously on his ball-handling ability and he'll surprise you rebounding offensively because he's so tough. Defensively, I thought he was the best defensive player, perimeter-wise, in our league. He's an all-round player and a gym rat; he loves to be in the gym...”

Former Diablo Valley College wing Ronnie Baker transferred there last season.