SPRINGFIELD – The trophy case is plenty full for Dante Allen. Year after year, something new and shiny has earned a spot on the shelves therein.
Right alongside the treasure chest of intangibles he brings to the hardwood, there sits a quintet of team titles synonymous with his name.
Such high-quality results – on a regular basis, at that – attracted the eye of Kevin Boyle as he sought to build back his team depleted by graduating talent.
“I thought (Allen) was a winner. His attitude, his effort daily. You need guys to play super hard to have a really good team,” said the Montverde Academy boys basketball coach.
He may not have done it through scoring alone on this occasion, but the senior guard has regularly put his coach’s praise into practice.
Making his debut in the Hoophall Classic, Allen and Montverde Academy of Florida (12-2) cruised by Oak Hill Academy of Virginia (13-3) for a 78-52 victory Friday night at Springfield College’s Blake Arena. The Villanova commit, ranked No. 51 in the Class of 2025 by ESPN, tallied eight points on 4-for-6 shooting, three rebounds and three assists.
That qualified as an off night for the four-star prospect. He’s led the Eagles with 13.8 points per game thus far into the campaign, according to MaxPreps, but accepted a less-productive role offensively against the Warriors, as four of his teammates scored in double figures.
Junior forward Kayden Allen spearheaded the effort with 16 points, while forwards Hudson Greer, CJ Ingram and Trent Sisley – all seniors committed to major Division I programs – stacked the box score with 14, 14 and 13, respectively.
“They all recognize that it’s matchups who ends up getting more shots and sharing the ball,” Boyle said. “You can come four nights in a row and see a different guy have 17 (points) four nights in a row, and one of them has eight on of the four nights.”
Dante Allen’s achievements came in droves before his senior season. He was largely responsible for ushering Riviera Prep of Florida toward the promised land, winning the 2023 and 2024 FHSAA Class 3A championships for the first- and second-ever state titles in program history.
And on top of that, he’s won alongside the best of the best in his grade. Allen topped the podium with three different teams in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, most recently doing so on Nightrydas Elite last summer in the Nike EYBL Peach Jam.
“With Riviera, I had maybe a bigger role sometimes scoring, being somebody who has the ball a bit more,” Allen said. “But here, I do what the coach wants me to do, whether that’s score, whether that’s distribute the ball, whether that’s guard, whatever is needed, I try to have an impact on the game in some way.”
Montverde Academy’s Dante Allen during a basketball game at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts on Jan. 17, 2024.Gage Nutter
After all, he was no longer the indisputable center of attention when he made the switch to Boyle’s crew. Ingram and Greer both top him in the recruiting rankings at No. 32 and No. 33, respectively, while Kayden Allen is arguably the most intriguing talent on the entire roster at No. 15 in the Class of 2026.
That forced Dante Allen to adapt, and with the guidance of Boyle, he’s beginning to get comfortable as a burgeoning point guard.
“I’ve been this height for a little while now, so for a while it was being forward, and as other guys keep getting taller, you’ve got to be somebody who’s able to lead the team with the ball a little bit more now too,” Allen said. “Definitely being able to be somebody who’s trustworthy with the ball and get a team into offense, and can get a team situated.”
A perpetual association with winning culture was one of the attributes Villanova men’s basketball coach Kyle Neptune gravitated toward – an upside that complements the 6-foot-3, 215-pound athlete’s multi-positional nature on both ends of the court.
Allen’s father, Malik, who serves as an assistant for the Miami Heat and played 10 years in the NBA, sought out the Wildcats before his son’s time, playing for the program from 1996 to 2000. Dante elected to follow those footsteps en route to becoming Villanova’s first commit in the Class of 2025.
But he’s mediated legacy with a path of his own – the ability to win being a point of pride.
“There’s certain things that I do that made them want me as a player,” Allen said. “And that’s definitely something that I want to carry over to Villanova.”
