On the final day of the Arizona Wildcatsโ holiday break, Kadeem Allen telephoned coach Sean Miller from his home in Wilmington, North Carolina, with some thought of asking for more time.
It was Christmas Eve.
โI told him like I might not make it back for Christmas,โ Allen said, that โIโd make it back the 26th.โ
It wasnโt that Allen was homesick, of course. Heโs already in his third year at Arizona after transferring from Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College, and by far the oldest player on the UA roster this season.
It was that he just spent four days with his 3-month-old daughter, Genesis, and the visit hit him harder than he may have expected.
โItโs different,โ Allen said Wednesday, at UAโs weekly news conference. โBeing here the first three months (of her life), I didnโt really know what it really was until I got home. I held her and looked into her eyes.
โIt was just like, โYeah, itโs the real thing now.โ โ
Allen has been enveloped in children and family his whole life, so that in itself wasnโt different. He comes from a family of 15 kids, and says he has many nephews and nieces.
Many of those family members have been helping out with Genesis while Kadeem, as always, remained focused on his Arizona basketball and studies. When she was born, basketball season was gearing up and he didnโt make it home for her birth.
FaceTime video calling helped dad see his newborn child but it wasnโt quite the same as with a physical touch.
โIt was just a good feeling,โ he said. โI was just happy to be with her and be able to hold her.โ
The father of three children himself, Miller indicated it was an emotional phone call to receive.
Miller listened, they talked.
But Allen boarded a plane at 7 a.m. Christmas just as scheduled, so he could get back to Tucson in time for a Christmas evening workout intended to kick off the Wildcatsโ preparation for Pac-12 play.
โAnytime you talk to your players during this period of time, you have to be sympathetic and compassionate toward what they have going on,โ Miller said of the midseason break, during which he encourages players to visit family and friends. โIn Kadeemโs case, heโs one of 15 kids in his family and he has a daughter he cares about a lot. I think from his perspective he wants to do things right, which is awesome to hear.โ
The two agreed what that last point meant: It meant coming back on time, especially as the Wildcatsโ clear-cut leader this season.
โThe point I made to him is the way heโs able to do things right is to graduate, to finish what heโs begun here at Arizona in the very best fashion possible,โ Miller said. โAnd being able to be here as the leader for practices is kind of a tone-setter for the next month or so.โ
Allen understood.
โI know what I signed up for,โ he said.
This season, Allenโs role has been a little bit of everything, guarding key perimeter threats, scoring and ballhandling, all while playing as many minutes as possible with the absences of guards Allonzo Trier (suspension) and Parker Jackson-Cartwright (ankle sprain).
Thatโs the way Allen leads, Miller said, not by assembling guys for off-season get-togethers and then disappearing when times get rough on the court. Itโs by showing up and working hard, all the time.
โI donโt know if Iโve coached a better leader than Kadeem,โ Miller said. โItโs not what he says; itโs what he does. He spent four days at home, and I think he would have loved to spend more.
โBut he came back as a member of our team. You sacrifice certain things and he did. Thatโs why we love him.โ
Besides, there are ways Allen can intertwine basketball and fatherhood over his final months at Arizona. Along with seeing her father via video calling, Genesis is scheduled to visit Tucson in the middle of next month, and thereโs always her pictures, too.
Among them are the ones that Allen has already posted to his Instagram account, one with a grinning Genesis looking over his shoulder, and a few others he took after posing her with a basketball.
โShe was focused on the ball the whole time,โ Allen said, then grinned softly.
โSo โฆ maybe we have something.โ
Rim shots
- Miller said UA will continue to monitor Jackson-Cartwright with the possibility of playing him in at least limited form against Cal and Stanford this week, if nothing else to give a partial eighth man to the Wildcatsโ rotation. Jackson-Cartwright returned to practice this week after suffering a high ankle sprain Nov. 30. โWeโre still very much in a wait-and-seeโ mode, Miller said. โIโm anxious to see how he will continue to develop, whether weโll play him at all, what role heโll have and how quickly he can come back.โ
- All UA players returned on time for practice after their holiday break, and freshman Kobi Simmons said he was rested after four days at home in Atlanta. โIt was just recovery for your body in different ways. Thatโs all,โ he said.
