Curtis Allen has been retained and will join first-year Washington State University Men’s Basketball Head Coach Ernie Kent’s staff as an assistant coach, Kent announced Thursday.

“I feel like it’s important to have someone on staff who knows the players, the academic and campus communities and the recent history of the program, and Curtis Allen provides that,” Kent said. “I feel like with the experienced coaches I’ve brought to the staff in Silvey Dominguez and Greg Graham, along with Curtis, we have the opportunity to be very successful here.”

Allen will enter his sixth season on staff at WSU after coming to Pullman with former head coach Ken Bone prior to the 2009-10 season. A Tacoma, Wash., native, Allen joined Bone’s staff at Portland State in 2005, where he served as an assistant coach.

“I’m really excited to join Coach Kent’s staff,” Allen said. “He’s been successful at the highest level and his style of play is very exciting. I look forward to representing Coach Kent and to continue to represent Washington State University, while helping the young men in this program grow as both players and people.”

In Allen’s four seasons at PSU, the Vikings posted a 77-49 record, including the two best seasons in school history. In 2007-08, the Vikings won a school-record 23 games and earned PSU its first berth in the NCAA Division I Tournament. The following season, the Vikings matched the 23 wins and made a second-straight tournament appearance.

Allen, who played basketball at Washington from 2000-04, spent one year as an assistant varsity coach at University Prep in Seattle. He also coached at Ballard High School during the summer of 2005, participated in UW and Seattle Pacific Basketball camps and operated his own camp at the Ballard Boys and Girls Clubs.

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