Lavoy Allen (born February 4, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected in the second round, 50th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. Allen is the son of a truck driver, and did not play much basketball until eighth grade. He attended Pennsbury High School, where he was coached by Oliver Aaron. Rivals.com ranked him the 14th best center in his class, and Scout.com named him the 110th overall prospect. Allen committed to Temple University and coach Fran Dunphy.
Temple reached the NCAA tournament in all four seasons that Allen played there. He was a three-time All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team honoree and a two-time All-Atlantic 10 First Team recipient. In his junior year, he became the first Temple player to average a double-double since Ollie Johnson accomplished the feat in 1970–71. Allen declared for early entry in the 2010 NBA draft, but withdrew prior to the May 8 deadline. As a senior, Allen surpassed Johnny Baum as the all-time leading rebounder in Temple history. He was the recipient of the Robert V. Geasey Trophy honoring the Philadelphia Big Five Player of the Year. Dunphy has said that Allen "might be the smartest player I've ever coached."
Allen was born in Trenton, New Jersey on February 4, 1989. His mother is Paula Allen and his father, Dave Allen, is a truck driver. When he was nine years old, Lavoy moved to Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and struggled to make friends in his new surroundings. He did not play much organized basketball until eighth grade. In an interview, Allen admitted he was not very good in the beginning, and focused on passing the ball to a better teammate. His initial motivation was how schoolchildren mocked him for his height yet not being able to dunk. "I could barely jump over the Sunday paper," he said.
He attended Pennsbury High School, where he was coached by Frank Sciolla. Former Temple player Dalton Pepper was his high school teammate. In ninth grade, Allen decided that he wanted to be great, and put in much more practice time. He became a starter on the varsity team in his sophomore year. As a junior, he averaged 12 points and nine rebounds per game, and was named a Top 150 player in his class by Hoop Scoop.
In his senior season, Allen posted per-game averages of 13 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. Under Allen, Pennsbury reached the second round of the PIAA playoffs before losing to Harrisburg High School. He was named to the Second Team all-Southeastern Pennsylvania at the conclusion of the season. Allen tried out for the USA U-19 basketball team, but did not make the final cut. Rivals.com ranked him the 14th best center in his class, and Scout.com named him the 110th overall prospect. He worked at a day care facility to earn enough money to bring his date to the senior prom. On November 8, 2006, Allen committed to Temple, over Division I scholarship offers from Rutgers, Saint Joseph's, and La Salle. Along with Dayton signee Chris Wright, Allen was one of two ESPN 100 prospects in the class of 2008 to sign with an Atlantic 10 program.
Coming into his freshman season, Allen was selected to the Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Rookie Team. He was seen as an answer for Temple's rebounding and interior scoring struggles from the previous 12–18 season. In his first college basketball game, Allen scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds in a loss to #7 Tennessee. From November 18 through December 9, 2007, he scored in double figures in six consecutive games. On February 10, 2008, Allen's season-high 20 points led Temple to an 80–70 overtime victory over the UMass Minutemen. Allen was benched in the February 17 game against Dayton due to missing a study assignment.
The Owls finished the season 21–13, and made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001, receiving a 12 seed by the selection committee. In the first round, they bowed out to fifth-seeded Michigan State 72–61. In that game, Allen notched his first double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, and also drained his first two collegiate three-pointers. He led the team in blocks with a total of 52, and finished second in field goal percentage (.558), third in rebounds per game (5.7), and fourth in points per game (8.1). Allen was selected to the All-Atlantic 10 Rookie Team.
As a sophomore, Allen increased his scoring average to 10.9 points per game, second on the team, and again led the team in blocks with 1.56 per game. He shot a team-best .579 from the floor, and his .618 field goal percentage in league games led the Atlantic 10. In addition, he led the team and finished third in the Atlantic 10 in rebounding with 9.0 rebounds per game. He had 14 double-doubles on the season. In the Owls' game against Lafayette, Allen broke his thumb and was forced to miss the next game against Buffalo. His season-high 23 points came on February 8, when the Owls defeated the Rhode Island Rams 68–62; Allen also had 13 rebounds. The following day, Allen received his first Philadelphia Big 5 player of the week honors. He would again be honored as Big 5 player of the week on February 23, following a 20-point and season-high 18 rebound performance against St. Bonaventure.
At the end of the regular season, Allen was named to the All-Atlantic 10 Third Team and All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team. He helped Temple to its second consecutive Atlantic 10 Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. In the championship game over Duquesne, Allen contributed 10 points and 14 rebounds. He posted 10 points and 11 rebounds against Arizona State in a 2009 NCAA tournament round of 64 loss.
Allen was a Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team selection in his junior year. He averaged 11.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, becoming the first Temple player to average a double-double since Ollie Johnson accomplished the feat in 1970–71. Allen's 10.9 rebounds per game average in Atlantic 10 conference games was bested only by Fordham's Chris Gaston and Duquesne's Damian Saunders. In addition, he led Temple in field goal percentage at .536. He scored 10 points and snatched 17 rebounds in the Owls' upset of #3 Villanova on December 19. In a 65–53 win over La Salle on February 28, 2010, Allen scored 17 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, a career high and the most by an Owl since Joe Newman pulled down 24 on February 5, 1973. With the victory, Temple clinched the Philadelphia Big Five title with a perfect 4–0 record. Allen became the 46th Temple player to score 1,000 points in his career in a game against George Washington. This earned him Atlantic 10 (co-)player of the week honors for the week of March 7.
Led by Allen, Temple enjoyed a 29–5 season, captured a share of the Atlantic 10 conference regular season championship with a 14–2 record, and culminated in a third consecutive Atlantic 10 conference tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In the NCAA Tournament, Temple was seeded fifth and matched up with 12 seed Cornell in the first round. Allen had 11 points, but his Owls were upset by the Big Red 78–65. Following the season, Allen was selected to the All-Atlantic 10 First Team and All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team. He was recognized as an All-Fourth District first-team selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches making him eligible for the State Farm Division I All-America teams. Since the Atlantic 10 Conference was its own district, this is equivalent to being named first team All-Atlantic 10 by the NABC. The U.S. Basketball Writers Association named Allen to the 10-man All-District II team covering college basketball players in the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware. the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Allen briefly flirted with the 2010 NBA draft. He declared for early entry in the draft, but did not hire an agent. After one workout with the Portland Trail Blazers, Allen was told to return to school to work on his offensive game. On May 8, Allen officially pulled his name out of consideration for the draft. He did so on the final day allowed by the NCAA to ensure collegiate eligibility.