PRESS RELEASE
Reading Rockets Chairman, Gary Johnson, is thrilled to announce the signing of the experienced G.B. player Ben Allison. ‘We knew Ben had started his financial career in the City and was living in south west London after 5 years in America and Spain, so with our common denominator links in Davidson College in the States via our Director of Coaching Matt Johnson and our Spanish Technical Director and Head Coach, Manuel Pena Garces, I am absolutely thrilled to announce Ben’s now a Rocket and will soon be wearing that vest. Our squad needed strengthening as well as needing cover for the injuries and inevitable sickness that befalls any team in the most packed of fixture lists known to us since we joined the National League back in 1997, so such a signature is a real coup for us ‘ Johnson said.
Allison was asked what attracted him to Rockets: ‘Mainly the coaching staff who really seem to care for their players. The coaches at Reading take their jobs very seriously and help players develop their games, stay healthy and have fun on the court. That stuff really motivates you to win games’ …and how did you find your time in Spain last year? ‘Excelente! Spanish people live my kind of lifestyle. Eat good food, drink wine, stay up late and play some basketball. Our team was the perfect balance between young and old. The young guys ran the break and the veterans could read the game very well. We had great team chemistry which put us in the position to win LEB Gold and be eligible for promotion to Spain’s top league, the ACB.’
About his American experience, Allison said that once a Davidson student, always a Davidson follower. ‘My connection with Davidson will last for the rest of my life. I speak to at least one coach, teammate or Davidson classmate every day. I also coach summer camps back in North Carolina most summers during the off-season. Davidson won the Atlantic -10 regular season last year (its first year in the conference) so it was an exciting time for the program. It’s also exciting that my former teammate Stephen Curry, (currently NBA champion and Team USA member!!) is playing so well right now. It really puts Davidson on the map. There are also several former players dotted around Europe who I see occasionally’ he added.
From Rockets perspective, Ben’s career highlights began with his entire freshman year at college. His team (Davidson College) made it to the final eight teams of the NCAA tournament (called the ‘Big Dance’) before being beaten by eventual national champions, Kansas. They had a chance to win it on the buzzer but lost by 2 points. Davidson finished that year ranked the 9th best college team in America and two of Ben’s teammates from that year went on to sign NBA contracts and several more in Europe. Ben’s favourite game was at Madison Square garden in New York City, the mecca of basketball and the home of the New York Nicks. Davidson beat West Virginia in the Jimmy V Classic in front of 20,000 people and Ben finished with 10 points (3 dunks) and 7 rebounds in 20 minutes of play.
Lately Ben’s proud to have captained the GB U20 team in a European Championship. He admits they had a rough tournament but it was a fun experience. ‘Growing up in England I always heard good things about the Reading program. It’s been around for a long time and consistently produces strong teams so I’m very pleased to join them’ Allison added.
Johnson added that the 6’9” centre will be training with the squad from next week and playing his first game against London Lituanica on Sun 13th December at Rivermead. Matt Johnson said “Ben is a very important person in basketball and has been through so many of the processes that our club feels are very important to the growth and maturation of basketball players. He has been with Coach McKillop at Davidson who has a great link with us and many other Coaches in the UK. Ben has learned first that the character of the player and team come before anything and through his time in UK, USA and Europe he will have much to give our club and Team. We are thrilled to see his journey progressing with us and look forward working together.
Head Coach Manuel Pena Garces said …
“It has been a really great work from the club to add one player like Ben and the idea is to incorporate him in the structure as soon as possible. We are already explaining to him the situations and adapting some of our ideas to help link with our current roster. We will have a deeper rotation and the option to play some players in other positions. With Ben in the team we will have the balance that every coach likes. From the first time that I met him i had a good feeling and I’m really looking forward to start working with him. He is also an inspirational person, a model for some of the players in our structure (he is an author of Reaching the Rim, a book to help young British people get a college scholarship); and that’s really important for all of us, because we are working for the future of the youth players also.
It’s really good news in a difficult week after our loss in the National Cup. I’m sure that Ben is going to be the good positive impact we need. We are all together and we are going to work hard because the season is really long”