Rosco Allen

LAS VEGAS — Rosco Allen received a pass on the wing during a workout session Thursday night at Bishop Gorman High School and aggressively attacked the basket past a defender like a guard, not a 6-foot-8-inch forward.

UCLA coach Ben Howland, in attendance to watch Allen and fellow Class of 2012 standout Shabazz Muhammad, is accustomed to watching Allen belie his height and handle the ball without difficulty.

What Allen did next after driving past the defender is an uncommon sight for any coach watching this generation of recruits: He laid the ball in rather than attempt a highlight-reel dunk. His father, Daniel Allen, credits that style of play to his son’s basketball development in Hungary, where the family lived regularly until moving to Las Vegas five years ago. They still own a house in Budapest and travel there often.

“The game is a little bit different there in Europe,” Daniel Allen told me. “It’s a little more physical, a little more fundamental. That’s why you’ll hardly ever see him dunk the ball. He’d rather make a three-pointer. He tells me that he’ll take three points over two any day.”

The name Dirk Nowitzki does not conjure images of a 7-foot dunking machine, although he is among the taller basketball players in the NBA. The German-born player is known for his perimeter play, including the three-point shot, because of his European background.

Rosco Allen, a Hungarian-American, who is likely to grow to at least 6-10 by the time he graduates from Gorman in two years, embodies some of the same characteristics as Nowitzki on the court.

“Working from the wing, I feel most comfortable,” the younger Allen said. “I know I can post up if I have to, or if there is a smaller player on me. Being able to play inside and out has helped me become a better basketball player.

“Growing up in Hungary helped me because all I did there was play point guard.”

Since he was a freshman at Gorman, Allen said he has grown seven inches. The growth spurt has not hindered his coordination.

“I think he is still growing,” the elder Allen said. “You look at him, and he’s still just a kid. The weight will come (he is listed at 205 pounds). He’ll find it somehow, especially with colleges like Arizona that have a great weight-training facility.

“The Arizona coaches have told us that they have kids come in and they put 15 to 20 pounds on them. That’s something that will definitely be good for Rosco’s stature.”

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These are some items reported on the Internet last week. Please check out WildAboutAzCats.com for some recent video footage of Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson was the recipient of a hard foul this week by DeMar DeRozan and his teammate Jabari Brown stood by his side

Things got a little touchy with current NBA players and college basketball prospects leading up to the Boost Mobile Elite 24 game in Venice Beach on Saturday. According to a tweet by RealGM.com, Nick Johnson was at the center of a dispute between former Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep teammate Jabari Brown and Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan during one of the scrimmages during the week. “Jabari Brown getting into it with DeMar DeRozan. Some serious ****-talking going on here after DeRozan hits Nick Johnson with a hard foul,” is what the Twitter feed reads.

If anything, this shows the strong relationship between Brown and Johnson. During their summer together with the Drew Gooden/Oakland Soldiers, Johnson and Brown were recipients of many passes from Josiah Turner that led to uncontested shots or dunks. Out of the many AAU players I watched in Las Vegas in July, Brown and Johnson are unparalleled when it comes to working hard away from the ball to becoming a threat to score or open up a possibility for others. … Depending on who you read this week — the Arizona media vs. the Kansas media — there are varying outlooks concerning the decision of Sacramento point guard Josiah Turner to move up his visit to Arizona on Sept. 17-18 from Oct. 22-23. That leaves Turner’s visit to Kansas on Oct. 15 for The Late Night in the Phog event as his last visit. The general belief of those who follow Arizona, including yours truly, is that Turner’s move is a good sign for the Cats. A source indicated to WildcatSportsReport.com’s Gary Randazzo last week that Arizona’s coaches wanted the visit to be earlier in the process. The reason: Turner’s interest in the UA program has never been more robust, especially with Johnson committing to the Cats. They want to seize the moment and hope Turner commits after his visit. Kansas’ viewpoint is different, as evidenced by Gary Bedore‘s article in the Lawrence Journal-World. Bedore quotes Rivals.com analyst Shay Wildeboor as saying the fact that Turner will tentatively visit Kansas last is “huge.” “By the time he announces, it will be the last thing he’ll remember,” Wildeboor said. “He attended Late Night on an unofficial visit last year. He’s coming back on an official visit this year and has made KU his final visit. He obviously has great interest in KU.” …

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Who says strategy only occurs on the court when it comes to college basketball?

Arizona coach Sean Miller and his staff just implemented what amounts to a full-court press in their attempt to recruit Rivals.com 5-star Class of 2011 point guard Josiah Turner of Sacramento.

Turner, a 6-foot-3 playmaker who is also a solid defender, was originally slated to visit Arizona on the weekend of Oct. 22-23 at the same time the Cats play their Red-Blue Scrimmage at McKale Center. That was to come a week after Turner visited Kansas at its Midnight Madness event, “Late Night in the Phog,” in Lawrence.

Turner told me Thursday night the switch with the Arizona trip occurred in part because his good friend and former AAU teammate Nick Johnson is also officially visiting the UA campus the weekend of Sept. 17-18. Johnson verbally committed to Arizona last week.

Arizona’s coaches also welcome the move likely with the hope that Turner will be so overwhelmed by the visit that he will want to commit almost a full month before he is supposed to visit Kansas. What will Turner experience that weekend in Tucson (a veritable full-court press to sway the high-profile point guard)?
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