Dante Allen, son of Heat assistant coach, lifts Hurricanes with selfless play
Tony Shahbaz knew, the moment Dante Allen walked into his summer camp as a seventh-grader at Miami Riviera Prep, that there was something different about this kid.
It wasn’t just that his father, Malik Allen, was a retired NBA player and newly hired Miami Heat assistant coach. It was the way he carried himself on and off the court.
“He was special from the second he walked into the gym, respectful, looked you right in the eyes, shook your hand, he was kind,” Shahbaz said. “On the court he was an animal, played the game the right way, never took a bad shot, always looked for the open teammate, got more joy out of an assist over scoring. You almost had to force him to shoot and be selfish.”
It was the same first impression that caught the attention of UM coach Jai Lucas and why he offered Allen a scholarship shortly after taking over the Hurricanes’ program last March.
Allen, a 6-4 and 220-pound guard who was a consensus four-star recruit, initially committed to Villanova, the alma mater of both of his parents. He changed his mind and reopened his recruitment when Lucas took the job at UM.
He was excited by Lucas’ plans and had close ties with two assistant coaches on Lucas’ staff, Erik Pastrana, who recruited Lucas at the University of Georgia, and Andrew Moran, who coached Lucas with the Nightrydas Elite AAU team that won back-to-back-to-back EYBL Peach Jam Championships.
“It definitely felt like a program I would feel comfortable in, I already had ties with some guys who could really help me figure everything out my first year,” Allen said.
Heading into Wednesday’s late game against Stanford, Allen was averaging six points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 20 minutes per game for the Hurricanes.
Anybody who has been paying close attention knows that Allen’s impact is far greater than his stat sheet. He is one of the reasons UM is one of the most improved teams in the nation with a 16-4 record, 5-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, after going 7-24 last year and finishing last in the conference at 3-17.
Allen was scoreless in last weekend’s 85-76 UM road win at Syracuse, but he started in place of Tre Donaldson to give the team an early spark. By the time he was subbed out for Donaldson after five minutes, the Hurricanes led 9-0. He amped up the team’s energy from the opening whistle and finished with three assists, two rebounds and a steal in 18 minutes.
“He’s a connector,” Lucas explained. “Dante’s impact is always felt because he cares about winning. He always is looking to find and make the right plays. He gets the ball where it needs to go, and on the defensive end, he competes with everybody and anybody. You need those guys who are connecting players and can put the pieces together.”
Shahbaz shared an anecdote that perfectly illustrated Lucas’ point.
Riviera was playing Belen and Allen had 29 points by halftime, the coach recalled. The school record was 38 points, so Shahbaz urged Allen to be aggressive and shoot in the second half.
“I pulled him aside and said, `Hey, Dante, I know it’s probably not even on your mind, but the scoring record is right there for you to have, and it would be nice if you had it,’’’ Shahbaz said. “He comes out in the third quarter, I kid you not, doesn’t even take one shot. Passes the ball around.
“After the quarter, I go, `What happened to going for the record?’ He looks at me and says `You know me, Coach, I’m just trying to make the right play.’ And he ended up with like 32. That’s the type of kid he is. Literally could care less about anything other than winning.”
Malik Allen, who starred at Villanova and played 10 years in the NBA before becoming a coach, insists he does not deserve much credit for his son’s success, although he does still spend time with him in the gym, offering tips.
“He just intrinsically plays that way; I don’t think it has anything to do with being a coach’s son,” Malik Allen said. “He’s about winning. He brings it in everything he does. Had I been working a 9 to 5, I think he would have played the same way. Even when I was between coaching, and he was 4 and 5 years old, he passed the ball and played really hard.”
The elder Allen agreed that Dante’s selflessness and tireless work rate is rare.
“It’s a gift, especially in today’s modern basketball,” he said of his son. “That’s what makes him so unique and a special kind of player. That’s hard to teach.”
Shahbaz and Lucas say the fact that Allen grew up around the game surely contributed to the way he approaches the sport.
“It’s evident all over his game,” Shahbaz said. “If you don’t know who Dante’s father is and you see the way he plays, the first thought that probably would come to mind is that has to be a coach’s son because he plays the right way. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him intentionally make a bad play.”
Lucas, whose father, John Lucas, was also a college and NBA star and coach, agreed.
“You can tell he’s been taught the right way to play the game,” Lucas said. “Being the son of a coach myself, some of the mental stuff that comes with that, I am able to talk to him and know, without him even saying anything, I know what he’s going through. Having that ability to relate to him just tightens our bond.”
Allen’s two favorite sports to play growing up were soccer and basketball. He excelled at both. He played on club teams in Detroit, Minneapolis and Miami, wherever Malik was coaching at the time.
He played striker and attacking midfielder on the soccer field and admittedly had a pretty good shot. His favorite team was, and still is, Manchester United, though he follows Inter Miami now that Lionel Messi is on the team.
His younger sister, Maya, a defender for the Florida United club team, just accepted a soccer scholarship at University of Wisconson-Milwaukee.
Around age 13, Dante had to focus on one sport and chose basketball.
The next tough decision he made was leaving Riviera his senior year to play at Montverde Academy in Central Florida. Allen had led Riviera to back-to-back state titles, and had a good team coming back, but Montverde is a national powerhouse that has produced many NBA players.
“I felt like I had accomplished most of the things I could at Riviera, two state championships, a couple of Player of the Year awards, and I felt going to Montverde would prepare me more for the college game,” Allen said. “Playing with Coach [Kevin] Boyle, one of the most highly regarded high school coaches of all time, being surrounded by a bunch of guys who, like me, were also highly regarded where they were from.
“To be able to face those guys in practice every day was great. It showed me that you may have a bigger role at your school but have to learn to play with other really good players. And every team we played against was like a college game, the physicality, the speed. It really upped the level for me. The fact that I got to do that for a whole year before I got to UM put me a step ahead than I think I would have been if I had stayed at Riviera.”
Malik Allen said he and Dante’s mother, Kara, are delighted to have him close to home.
“It just seemed that boxes were getting checked and this team was the right fit,” Malik said. “I wanted him to be around good men, a good staff. That goes a long way in developing character. He’s happy, and as long as he’s happy, we’re happy.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2026 at 4:30 PM.