Jimmy Allen Press Conference Quotes

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point officially introduced Jimmy Allen as its 31st head men's basketball coach during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon at Nowak Auditorium.

Director of Athletics Boo Corrigan
(Ref.: opening statement)
"Today is a wonderful day for a couple of reasons. One, we get to formally announce Jimmy as our next men's basketball head coach, and we get to start the Jimmy Allen Era with Army West Point basketball. I want to thank a few people as we went through this process, Gaylord Greene, Bob Beretta, Stephanie Menio and Garrett Munro, who were all part of the search committee. We were hurried, but not rushed as we went through this process. As we built out what we were looking for in a coach and the tenants of what the position is, we looked at all of the different candidates, but we kept coming back to one thing, who's better than Jimmy?

"Jimmy has been a head coach, he's been successful and he's been at an academy. Jimmy has recruited at the highest level and the more we looked at it, the more we realized that the person we wanted was here at West Point. With that, I could not be more excited to announce our new head men's basketball coach Jimmy Allen."

Head Coach Jimmy Allen
(Ref.: opening statement)
"It's incredible to have this opportunity. I'm privileged and honored to be here today. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, because there is truly no other place like Army West Point. To be part of the Academy's mission and to work with the people here is humbling and it has been enjoyable for every day that I've worked here.

"I'd like to thank General Caslen and Boo Corrigan for their belief, confidence and support of not only me, but what our program and our staff have accomplished over the past few years. I want to thank my family for being here today. I want to thank Gaylord Greene, Bob Beretta, Garrett Munro and Stephanie Menio for all of their help, advice and support over the last couple of weeks and I also want to thank Zach Spiker for his friendship, his loyalty and his support. He's someone with limitless energy and is someone who has been awesome for me to work with over the last six years. I'm very excited for Zach and his family and I'm positive that Drexel University hired a great basketball coach and I know that they're going to accomplish amazing things there.

"Thank you to our basketball staff. The last couple of weeks have been stressful, but they have been awesome. They have continued work and they have supported our players and I'm grateful that I get to keep working with those guys every day.

"As important to thank as anyone are the players that are part of the Army West Point basketball program, both current and former players. I can't name all of them, but thank you especially to the guys that have been here over the last six years that our staff has had a chance to coach. The things we have been able to accomplish has been unbelievably rewarding and enjoyable. We're all proud of what this basketball program has accomplished, but none of us are satisfied. We're excited about taking this team to the next level and making the next step.

"I mentioned last week when this was announced that I feel like West Point is part of my DNA since I was born. The values and lessons my parents taught me are right in line with what West Point teaches. I also mentioned last week that I fell in love with the game of basketball as a basketball camper. I was going into the sixth grade, my parents wanted to get me out of the house for a couple weeks so they signed me up for the camp, and I've been a fan ever since. I got to play noon time hoops with guys that played for Coach K, guys like Matt Brown and now General Bob Brown.

"I'm not sure how many head coaches get to say that they were actually a camper at the school they get to be the head coach at. That's pretty powerful for me and something I'm really proud of.

"When opportunities like this happen, I think it gives us all a good chance to look back and think about all the people that help us throughout our lives. There is no way I can mention all of them, but it's because of all the people that have given me opportunities along the way that have allowed me the chance to do this and be in this position. All of these people have helped shape me into somebody who I believe is uniquely qualified to be here.

"Bob Johnson at Emory & Henry, he recruited me, coached me, and fortunately for me, hired me when I graduated and that's how I got started coaching. There is no better leader and no better person to teach the game of basketball and learn the game from than Bob Johnson was. I'm just grateful for him and his family and everything they've done for me.

"My years at Averett helped me understand that if you have a group of people working together, you can accomplish some pretty amazing things. That experience was incredible for me.

"Coming back to West Point, joining Coach Spiker's staff, being a part of getting this basketball program back to a level of success has been very rewarding.

"The things I've been fortunate enough to experience to this point in my career have helped me learn what it takes to be successful. Moving forward, I can tell you that the players we have returning and the ones we have coming in are really motivated to produce results and be a part of this program. We're all going to work tirelessly to produce results on the court, in the classroom, and in the corps. We want to be a program that makes Army West Point proud. It's important to all of us. There is no one that has higher expectations for our basketball program than our players and our staff. Thank you for very much for this opportunity and we're excited to keep working here."

Director of Athletics Boo Corrigan
(Ref.: Emphasis on bringing in coach with academy experience)
"It's so unique coaching here and recruiting to an academy that what you're looking for is someone who understands what it is. In recruiting, it's easy to fall in love with talent. But you can't just fall in love, you've got to fall in love with the right talent. Someone who has character and understands what it takes to make it through the Academy. We were looking for was someone who understands what it is, what the process is and how to recruit here, and that's what we have with Jimmy. We're not going to skip a beat. We've got somebody who can take where we are and keep moving forward."

Head Coach Jimmy Allen
(Ref.: Feelings after becoming head coach where you grew up)
"Honestly, I don't think I could've imagined this before last week. You certainly think about things like that, but it all comes back into a different perspective when it actually happens."

(Ref.: Does having coaching experience at another academy help?)
"Coach Don DeVoe brought me in to Navy at a time where I worked with Doug Wojcik and Emmett Davis who had been there for a while. That helped me understand what kind of kids we needed to recruit and just the numbers you have to recruit and how you have to recruit. Being able to bring that experience here and knowing how to use our prep school does take a while to learn. That's why I'm excited about our staff and the continuity that we're going to be able to continue to have. This is a staff that has been able to recruit guys that stay here. That's probably been one of the biggest keys to our success, bringing in the right guys who are committed to being at the Academy who are also really talented basketball players."

(Ref.: Expectations of returning players after losing talented senior class)
"We were the only team in the country to start five seniors and have four guys to score more than 1,000 points. That group accomplished a ton, but we've also got a young team behind them. I know we've got some guys that have been in supportive roles the past couple of years and a very talented freshman class. It's a chance for those guys to step up. We've had guys committed to being part of this program and doing whatever it takes to support this program, and now those guys are going to get their opportunity."

Army West Point Athletics

Jimmy Allen Press Conference Quotes

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