During head Coach Bill Coen's career at Northeastern, he has helped 16 members of his basketball team on to professional careers, including three members of the 2016 senior class. Hear what they have to say about where they are playing, what they are up to, and how Northeastern helped to prepare them for this moment in time.
Chaisson Allen ('11) graduated from Northeastern in three years with a bachelor's degree in marketing and management while finishing his career ninth among Huskies with 1,550 career points. After five seasons of professional basketball, Allen joined the Miami (FL) coaching staff last year as a graduate assistant.
CHAISSON ALLEN
As I write this from Miami Beach, Fla. all I can think about is what a wonderful journey I have been on thus far. Growing up in Murfreesboro, Tenn. I never thought that basketball could have taken me so many places. As I was going through my recruitment process I had schools throughout the south recruiting me along with one single school in Boston called "Northeastern". I never knew that my choice would play such an integral part in the amount of success I've had to date.
Graduating from Northeastern in three years with a bachelor's in marketing & management was an accomplishment in itself. My parents Michael & Charleen Allen always taught me to have a backup plan. Like the majority of athletes, I saw myself playing at the highest levels against the top players in the world. But what happens when this ends…
Northeastern University and
Bill Coen prepared me to take on the world on the court and off.
On the court I was able to play and contribute a lot of minutes for the program, following the footsteps of many other great players. As a freshman I was given the proper time and coaching to adjust to the speed of the game while becoming accustomed to college. Over the years I was able to grow and develop into a conference Player of the Year candidate and bring notoriety to the university.
But I also had the chance to work numerous co-ops that gave me the opportunity to build a resume and learn what I wanted to do going forward in life. Majoring in business I was placed in management positions and groomed to run a business, which I enjoyed.
While getting one of the top educations, I played for one of the best X&O's coaches in the country. Playing for Coach Coen prepared me mentally for the professional level with all the terminology and methodical game plans, always feeling like I was the smartest player on the court.
I want to take this opportunity to say thank you, to Michael & Charleen Allen,
Bill Coen, and Northeastern University.
Where am I at today? Well I'm in sunny, South Florida. After five tremendous years playing professional basketball having opportunities with Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and in countries such as Israel, Turkey, Croatia, Poland, and Greece I retired due to injuries. This is where the backup plan came in to play.
Once I retired, I relied on my degree from the prestigious Northeastern University. I started a car detailing business, and contracted with Hertz Corporation, but only to find myself missing the game of basketball. After talking things over with Coach Coen and the NU coaching staff, I decided to pursue my master's in sports administration while joining the University of Miami men's basketball staff. Six years removed, the staff of Northeastern played a huge part in me getting back into basketball and passing the knowledge I've acquired throughout the years.
My teams at Northeastern made my transition to playing in Europe easy. Coach Coen is well known for recruiting the best talent no matter where you are from. At one point and time we had 14 players from 14 different areas including four European countries. The diversity of my teams prepared me for the different cultures and style of play I witnessed during my career.
I have recently been promoted to an assistant player development role at Miami and I look forward to sharing the things I learned from my time at Northeastern. On game days I make sure I find time to see how my Huskies are doing. Also enjoying telling my office that Northeastern was the only team to beat them at home during their sweet 16 appearance in 2015-16!
My first year at Miami as a graduate assistant was a learning experience, but nothing I wasn't prepared for. Playing in front of crowds of Syracuse, Virginia, and Duke reminded me of my college days playing Syracuse, Memphis, and Maryland, opening up at Illinois my freshman year where I had 11 points and 10 rebounds, by the way! It's nice to share these experiences and help prepare this generation for the games to come.
