Jerome Allen to become an assistant coach with Celtics

JEROME ALLEN looked at his time back coaching at his alma mater as an "opportunity." When that ended in March, he did not really understand why everybody kept asking him how he was doing. He was taking his kids to school, helping coach a girl's soccer team at his church, continuing to teach four classes at Strawberry Mansion Promise Academy. He was doing just fine waiting for the next opportunity.

That has come with Brad Stevens and the Celtics. Allen just spent the last week in Boston and will become a Celtics assistant coach.

"I saw [Stevens] had an opening on his staff and I reached out to him," Allen said. "Brad was somebody I respected for what he was able to accomplish in college. I spent some time with him when he was at Butler."

They had become friendly after Butler played Penn at the end of the 2011-12 season and then in the middle of the 2012-13 season.

"After one season, I went out to Indianapolis and spent time with him," Allen said. "When he came to Philadelphia when he was coaching the Celtics, we went out to dinner. We kind of stayed in contact."

Now, they will be coaching together.

Allen, 42, said he does not know anything about soccer, but he does know about young people, how to teach, how to explain the right way to behave. That made him a valuable asset with his church team.

"It gave me a platform to stay involved with young people," he said.

Now, Allen, who coached the Quakers for five-plus seasons and was one of Penn's all-time great players before playing in the NBA and then overseas, will have a different platform, one with a bit more scrutiny than church league soccer.

"I had other opportunities, but out of respect, I won't say where they were," Allen said. "I wanted to go somewhere where I had the possibility to grow and learn and have a positive impact."

The great athletes forget the last play and lock in on the next play. Certainly, Allen would have loved to stay at his alma mater longer, to get it right. That did not happen so he looked ahead, thankful as he said for the chance at Penn, looking forward to whatever would come next.

Growing up in Philadelphia, Allen is well aware of the Celtics history and tradition. That was alluring and so was the chance to work with Stevens, one of the sharpest basketball minds on earth and one of the best people you will ever meet.

"Brad is just a classy guy," Allen said.

And he just hired another classy guy to join him on the Celtics bench.