Sonny Allen

Sonny Allen (born March 8, 1936)

Teams coached: Old Dominion Monarchs, SMU Mustangs, Nevada Wolfpack, Sacramento Monarchs
Old Dominion record^: 181-94 (.658)
SMU record: 61-77 (.442)
Nevada record: 114-89 (.562)
Overall record^: 356-260 (.578)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  0
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  2  (1984, 1985)
• NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  0
• NIT Championships:  0
• NIT Appearances:  0
• Big Sky Regular Season Champion:  2  (1983, 1985)
• Mason-Dixon (Div II) Conference Champion:  1  (1969)
• Big Sky Tournament Champion:  2  (1984, 1985)
• NCAA Division II National Championships:  1  (1975)   
• NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances:  5  (1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975)
• NCAA Division II Tournament Final Four:  2  (1971, 1975)

Awards:

• Big Sky Coach of the Year:  2  (1984, 1985)
• Southwest Coach of the Year:  1  (1976)
• NABC (Div II) Coach of the Year:  1  (1975)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

Sonny Allen Facts

• Sonny Allen
• Born March 8, 1936
• Hometown: Moundsville, West Virginia
• Alma Mater: Marshall University (BA, 1960)
• The West Virginia-native played point guard at Marshall for head coach Jule Rivlin
• Started coaching right after graduation, spending five years assisting at Marshall under Rivlin and Ellis Johnson
• Hired in 1965 to be the head coach at Old Dominion, leading the Monarchs for ten seasons
  • Was 181-94 overall at ODU, which at the time was not yet a Division I program
  • Went to the NCAA College Division Tournament five times, reaching two Final Fours and winning the title in 1975
  • Inducted into the Old Dominion Athletics Hall of Fame in 1981
• Made the jump up to the Division I ranks in 1975, becoming the head coach at SMU
  • Compiled a 61-77 record over five seasons but did not reach the postseason; named Southwest COY in 1976
• Final collegiate head coaching job was at Nevada, where he went 114-89 in seven seasons
  • Won two Big Sky titles, two Big Sky Tournaments and went to the NCAA Tournament in 1984 and 1985
• Was the first head coach of the defunct Las Vegas Silver Streaks of the (also-defunct) World Basketball League in 1988
• Served as the only head coach of the Santa Barbara Islanders of the former CBA, going 37-19 during the 1989-90 season
• After several years away from coaching, Allen became an assistant for Don Nelson with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks
• Spent one year, the team’s inaugural 1998 season, as an assistant for Nancy Lieberman with the WNBA’s Detroit Shock
• Last coaching position was in the WNBA, a two-season tenure as head coach of the Sacramento Monarchs
  • Went 40-24 overall, making the Playoffs both seasons (eliminated in the first round)

Sonny Allen Coaching Tree

• Maura McHugh (Stony Brook (w), Sacramento Monarchs)
• Oliver Purnell (DePaul, Clemson, Dayton, Old Dominion, Radford)
• Charlie Woollum (William & Mary, Bucknell)

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I and Division II levels only; note that Old Dominion was a College Division/D-II program during Allen’s tenure as head coach