Greg Hansen: Kadeem Allen's commitment to Arizona Wildcats came with an assist from Uncle Joe

SAN JOSE, Calif.

Sean Miller is such an insatiable recruiter that the only way to fully understand how far he goes is to grab an airline magazine out of the seatback in front of you and examine the flight chart.

Look for Denver. From Denver you can get anywhere. There are dozens of loopy lines connecting Denver with every part of America. There are so many connections that the lines mesh together.

That’s life for any coach in the Sweet 16. That’s life for Miller, who in October 2013 decided he’d go to Hutchinson, Kansas, to recruit a relatively unknown junior college guard, Kadeem Allen.

Because Miller simply didn’t call and pledge to see Allen when the schedule was more favorable — it would never be more favorable to find Hutchinson on the map — Arizona has won 32 games and is in the Sweet 16.

Arizona goes home without Allen in its lineup.

In the early fall of 2013, when the Wildcats were building toward the nation’s No. 1 ranking, Miller had to decide whether he’d get to Hutchinson Community College through Oklahoma City (210 miles away) or through Kansas City (217 miles).

There was going to be some rubber on the road.

The coaches of the Kansas Jayhawks had not made the commitment to drive the 187 miles to Hutchinson; they had not seen Allen, who would become the NJCAA Player of the Year, in person.

People at the West Regional this week draw a laugh by asking “do you know the way to San Jose?” But the real story for Arizona is “do you know the way to Hutchinson College?”

Miller walked into the Blue Dragons’ gymnasium during an informal workout. Allen did a double-take.

“I didn’t know he was coming,” Allen said Wednesday at SAP Center. “We were playing a pickup game and I glanced and saw him; I really didn’t know who he was. When I realized it was (Miller), wow, it was just a blessing.”

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Hutchinson coach Steve Eck had been expecting Miller. He told Allen about the visitor. Two weeks later, without visiting nearby Kansas — who then offered Allen a scholarship — the man who would become the 2014 NJCAA player of the year was in Tucson and made a commitment to play for Arizona.

It’s not much different than how Miller laboriously tracked down Lauri Markkanen in Finland and Dusan Ristic in Serbia. Unlike UCLA, where recruiting a roster of blue-chippers doesn’t always require use of an airplane, Arizona stays at the top because their coaches spend so much time in the air.

The story of how Miller became sold on Kadeem Allen — how he even knew about him — is even better.

Miller’s uncle Joe Miller moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, in the early 1980s and became a local football coaching legend. Much like his brother, John Miller, Sean’s dad, Joe Miller was a high school sports lifer. After his football coaching career he became a noted prep sports administrator in Wilmington. He went to all the ballgames and charted the prospects.

So when Kadeem Allen of Wilmington’s New Hanover High School emerged as a prospect of note, Uncle Joe would tell his nephew that he should take a look. New Hanover went 30-1 and won the state championship, a memorable run that included six straight playoff victories over everyone from Hoke County to West Charlotte.

Uncle Joe made sure the news got to McKale Center.

“Kadeem was one of my uncle’s favorite kids,” Miller said Wednesday. “He called me and told me about him. He would get on my dad, telling him about this kid, Kadeem Allen. And then ironically we knew the coaches at Hutchinson as well. So I think between the two of those relationships it allowed us to get in the door.”

Allen completed his senior year at New Hanover one vote shy of being North Carolina’s Gatorade Player of the Year. The winner, five-star Raleigh guard Rodney Purvis, chose to attend North Carolina State over offers from many of the game’s heavyweights.

While Allen was becoming academically eligible at Hutchinson Community College — he is two classes shy of graduation at Arizona — Purvis left N.C. State and transferred to UConn. This year the Huskies went 16-17 and missed the Madness.

Uncle Joe, who died 2½ years ago, knew his business.

Allen’s unusually long journey to Hutchinson and Tucson has led him to SAP Center in San Jose. When he plays his final game as a Wildcat, he will be remembered as one of the top defensive players in school history, and an indispensable, team-before-me contributor.

“He beat all the odds,” Miller said. “He’s a winner.”