Allen Community College's men went through a tough 2023-24 campaign. But the ingredients are in place for a quick turnaround this season.

Late last February, after another painful loss in a season filled with them, Allen Community College head coach Patrick Nee retreated to his office and started laughing.

His assistant coach wondered why.

After starting 6-2, Allen proceeded to lose 19 of its last 23 games, and as the injuries mounted, it was apparent the Red Devils were headed for a quick ouster in the Region VI tournament.

Nee was looking further ahead.

?We?re gonna go from last to first,? Nee predicted. ?What?s a better story than that??

Nee, entering his second year at the Red Devil helm, expects vast improvement for his veteran squad, most of whom were a part of the teams but did not play because of medical reasons or redshirt decisions.

?Last year was difficult,? Nee explained. ?But it was Year 1, and so we took it like that.?

Nee had come to Allen just weeks before the start of the season after former Red Devil head coach Andy Shaw was hired to coach at Western Iowa.

The timing was less than ideal.

?We had to recruit 14 brand new players in less than six weeks,? Nee recalled. ?It was a challenge.?

Nee noted that many were going to sit out the first year, in order to get them acclimated to the college game.

And then when the injury bug hit ? six players missed the end of the season for one ailment or another ? Nee and Co. knew they?d have to chalk up it up as a foundation-building year.

?I don?t like to use the word tanked, but a lot of last season was building toward this year,? Nee explained. ?We?re gonna be really good.?

THE RED DEVIL roster is both a veteran bunch, and one with little playing experience. Only one of this year?s starters, Dirk Johnson, played in 2023-24.

That matters little to Nee, who said the team?s offseason development ?is miles ahead? of where it was last season.

?We?ve got an older group than most of the teams we?ll play, and we?ve got guys who understand my personality, who understand what I want from them. They understand our terminology.?

While Nee would have to take extra time last season explaining various drills and concepts, this year?s players know in an instant what needs to be done.

?I can go to one of my team leaders and say, ?I want you to run 120 and 5,? and just walk away,? Nee explained. ?And they?ll run it the right way.?

The aforementioned Johnson, a 6-8 sophomore center, averaged 6.8 points and 4.3 points as a part-time starter last season.

While most of his work was done around the basket, Johnson can hit from the outside.

?He?s a great leader, a tough, hard-nosed player,? Nee said. ?And he can stretch the defense. It was a good thing for him to get that many games under his belt. He?s seen the best of the best, and went up against several Division I players. He?s ready to go.?

ONE OF Allen?s ?returning newcomers? is guard Tyler Pinder, a Tulsa, Okla., native and brother of assistant coach Tyre Pinder.

?He?s a Division I (level) player no doubt,? Nee said. ?He?s probably going to be our best player.

Forward Brayshawn Hubbard-Finch, meanwhile, is in his fourth year of college basketball. He was granted an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID 19 pandemic, and then redshirted a year, and sat out another year because of a transfer.

?I?d coached against these guys (Tyler and Brayshawn) and the second I got the job at Allen, these guys hit me up.?

They wanted to join the team.

NEE ALSO expects to get early contributions from Henry Young, a 6-7 guard, and Malachi Schilreff, a 6-2 guard.

?Henry was a big pickup for us, especially with his versatility,? Nee said. ?He?s already getting Division I interest.?

Schilreff is a slashing guard capable of hitting from the outside.

?He?s better than we thought he was going to be at this point,? Nee said. ?He?s gonna be a leader down the road.?

THE RED Devils will have plenty of challenges with one of the toughest schedules around.

Allen opens the 2024-25 campaign Friday at home against Friends University?s JV squad. The gauntlet begins the following week when ACC travels to Coffeyville Nov. 5, and Ark City the weekend of Nov. 8 and 9 to take part in the Cowley Classic. All are Division I NJCAA schools.

The defending NJCAA-Division II national champs from National Park come to town Nov. 15.

In December, Allen goes to Muskogee, Okla., to take on Conners State, which made it to the NJCAA Division I Final Four in March.

?This schedule is brutal,? Nee admitted, ?We?re doing it a little bit differently. We may start out 3-3, but nobody is going to panic, because this is getting us ready for what?s coming down the road. We?re going to be battle-tested.?

For perspective?s sake, many of Allen?s conference rivals will play one or two NJCAA Division I schools in a typical season.

The Red Devils will play seven.

?Glossy non-conference records may look nice in newspaper clippings, Nee said, ?but all I care about are rings and nets.?