Kadeem Allen is only Arizona’s fifth-leading scorer (8.8 points per game), and his 3.0 assists per game trails Jackson-Cartwright (4.1) for the team lead. He’s also one of the Wildcats’ quietest off-court personalities.
But there isn’t any doubt where Miller looks to his on-court leadership from.
“He’s our team’s heart and soul,” Miller said. “Everybody on our team respects him a great deal because he only cares about winning. He really does. I’ve never, ever had a conversation nor has anybody about how many shots he gets or points. And he’s in this for the right reasons.”
Allen says the confidence his coaches and teammates have given him have also helped his ability to lead, to “carry it on the court and bring it every day for these guys.”
Allen’s leadership also stems from the fact that, at age 24, he’s by far the oldest player on the team. Allen has been in the program as long as anybody else, sitting out as a redshirting junior college transfer in 2014-15 when Jackson-Cartwright and Dusan Ristic played as freshmen.
Back then, you could project Allen to grow into a contributing player but maybe not as a leader.
“If you would have told our team a few years ago that Kadeem Allen would be the great leader he is today, they would have all bet me,” Miller said. “Because he was just trying to make it when he first got to Arizona. You think of a guy like a T.J. McConnell, who became a great leader for us a couple years ago, Kadeem is his equal. He does it in a different way, but he does it by example.
“I can’t say enough good things about him. That’s why we want to keep going because with somebody like him you want this season to grow.”
