Frankie Allen enters his sixth season as the head coach of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore men[apos]s basketball team. Allen was named coach of the team in June of 2008 and has amassed a record of 25-29 at home during that time. UMES is the third Division I institution that Allen has coached. He was recently inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and was named to Roanoke College[apos]s All-Century team in 2013.
In his five years at UMES, he has coached three players that have gone on to play professional basketball in Hillary Haley [apos]12, Tyler Hines [apos]12 and Freddy Obame Obame [apos]11. Allen has seen four players recieved All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference honors during his tenure. He has also helped 18 players secure MEAC Commissioners All-Academic Team accolades.
Prior to joining UMES, Allen spent two seasons at the University of Maryland Baltimore County as an assistant coach, where the team combined to go 36-28. In 2007-08, he helped lead the Retrievers to an NCAA Tournament berth. The Roanoke, Va., native served as assistant men[apos]s basketball coach at Radford University, where the Highlanders posted a record of 16-13 in 2005-06.
Allen was the head coach at Howard University for five years from 2000-05. Heinherited a program that had struggled the previous two season as Howard went just 3-52 during that span. Under his tutelage, the program was ressurected and the Bison recorded double-digit victories in his first three seasons. He led the team to the school[apos]s first winning record (18-13, 2001-02) in 16 years.
He came to Howard from Tennessee State University, where he coached the Tigers for nine seasons (1991-2000). His Tennessee State teams won three Ohio Valley Conference titles (1993, [apos]94, [apos]95) and made a pair of appearances (1993, [apos]94) in the NCAA Tournament. His first head coaching position was at Virginia Tech from 1987-91, where he earned Coach of the Year honors from the Metro Conference and Virginia Sportswriters in 1988.
Allen had a brilliant playing career for Roanoke (Va.) College from 1967-71. He remains the all-time leading scorer (2,780 points) and rebounder (1,758) at any collegiate level in the state of Virginia. He was a three-time Virginia College Basketball Player of the Year (1969-71) and earned All-American honors in his senior season. Moreover, Allen was the first African-American resident student to earn a degree (B.A., Philosophy) from Roanoke College.
Allen is married to Cynthia Rogers and has three daughters, Talhia and Ashley Allen of Nashville, Tenn., and Alexis Pate of Washington, D.C.
