Teddy Allen's five-year, five-school path has him primed for success at New Mexico State

LAS CRUCES — Teddy Allen pulled into a Las Cruces Walmart parking lot shortly before 11 p.m. on June 3.

He went into the store, bought soap and a few towels to tie him over until the U-Haul trailer holding most of his belongings arrived, and drove the remaining few miles to New Mexico State's campus, where the Aggies' latest basketball addition was temporarily staying in an on-campus dorm. The redshirt junior guard was exhausted after a 17-hour, 943-mile drive from Lincoln, NE to Las Cruces, NM, which was briefly delayed when he was pulled over for going 10 miles per hour over the speed limit north of Las Cruces.

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He didn't stop to sightsee any of his new city, and he said he didn't have a first impression of his new home. He didn't visit NMSU or Las Cruces before he committed to the Aggies in early May, two months after the All-Big Ten Conference honorable mention guard announced he was transferring from Nebraska and would join his fifth college in five years.

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Allen has now had five months to settle into his new city. He's acquainted himself with Las Cruces' hottest Mexican restaurants, NMSU's 900-acre main campus and the Pan American Center, where he'll suit up for his fourth college basketball team when the Aggies take on the University of California-Irvine in their season opener Nov. 9. And he hopes he can find a hard-working team with a winning mentality at NMSU that can help him reach his short and long-term goals: Winning a conference championship and returning to the NCAA Tournament, and playing in the NBA.

"It seems like I'm trying to skip from place to place, but I just say it's what was best for me," Allen said. "...The thing about everyone wanting to talk about the five schools, I would just say, 'Would you do something that you didn't think was helping you prosper for what your goals were?'... That's just how my career led me, and I think I'm better for it now. The path I took has led me to this moment."

Allen said he thinks he's as well-positioned for success as he's ever been since his college basketball career began in fall 2017. He committed to West Virginia in high school shortly before his mother, Elise, lost her battle with breast cancer.

Nicknamed "Teddy Buckets" for his scoring ability, he played a season for the Mountaineers under head coach Bob Huggins before transferring to Wichita State, where he sat out the 2018-19 season due to NCAA transfer rules. He was later kicked off the team after he was arrested and charged with misdemenor accounts of domestic violence property crime and petty theft.

He landed at Western Nebraska Community College in 2019 and led the NJCAA in scoring with 31.4 points per game before Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg secured his commitment for the 2020-21 season. Then he announced he was transferring from his second Power Five school in early March.

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"I think that's just my path, the way my career led me," Allen said. "It's not out of the norm for people to transfer, and my situation is just unique, having been at five schools."

Allen didn't waste time in the transfer portal after he decided to leave Nebraska.

During Allen's time at Wichita State, he never met Chris Jans, who formerly served as a Shockers assistant in two stints from 2007-2014 and 2015-2017. But he grew to learn who he was and his role in helping the Shockers to a Final Four appearance in 2013.

Then he met New Mexico State assistant coach James Miller a year later when he began recruiting Allen after his season at Western Nebraska. The Aggies reached out again in 2021 after Allen stuck his name back in the transfer portal. This time, it was enough for Allen to "basically committ" the first time he talked to Jans.

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"It was between (New Mexico State) and Nebraska out of juco, so I had already had a relationship (with the coaching staff) just from that," Allen said. "I just talked to Jans, and then, when I talked to him, I was just like, 'We might as well not drag it on any further.' ... I just thought it might be time to go there."

Allen said Jans' recruiting pitch was short and simple: "Come get this work, like how they do here."

"I like it. That's what you like as a player, you know? You like to work," Allen said. "You like to come to practice, work hard, be pushed, and that's what coach Jans told me on the phone. He didn't try to treat me like I was whoever, he just told me, 'Come work here, and we can do something great.'"

Whether or not Allen and the Aggies accomplish "something great" during his time at NMSU is still yet to be determined, but he's helped set the stage for a potentially special season. The Aggies were picked to win the WAC in the media and coaches preseason polls, and NMSU has the highest Kenpom ranking of any team in the conference by nearly 30 places.

The Aggies have made it clear their goal is to reclaim the WAC throne after falling to Grand Canyon in the conference tournament championship game last year, and redshirt junior guard and backcourt mate Jabari Rice has said Allen is fitting into the team seamlessly.

Allen thinks NMSU is the place for him to succeed, too. He said Las Cruces is considerably more relaxed than some of the other college towns he has played in during his five-year college career, like Lincoln or Morgantown, WV, and he's comfortable coming to a winning program.

So for now, he isn't focused on his past or what critics say about his personal and basketball journeys. He's focused on making the most out of his time with New Mexico State, helping the Aggies return to their championship standards and bringing his aggressive, attacking, ball-hawk style of play to his new team.

"Stuff aligned for me," Allen said. "I'm just trying to reach my ultimate goal at my own pace, and this is what I felt like the place to be was."

Stephen Wagner is a sports reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can found on Twitter at @stephenwag22 and reached at SWagner@lcsun-news.com.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Teddy Allen's five-year, five-school path has him primed for success at NMSU