Villanova gets first 2025 commitment in Dante Allen, son of former Wildcats big man Malik Allen

Dante Allen is following in his father’s footsteps.

Allen, a 6-foot-3 guard at Florida’s venerable Montverde Academy, committed to Villanova on Wednesday evening on the 247Sports Channel. The recruiting site ranks Allen No. 62 overall in the class of 2025. ESPN, meanwhile, ranks Allen 50th.

Allen’s father, Malik, a Willingboro native who attended Shawnee High School, played at Villanova under Steve Lappas from 1996 to 2000. Malik went undrafted in 2000 and started his professional career in the American Basketball Association before eventually playing 10 seasons in the NBA. He is an assistant coach with the Miami Heat, a job he’s had since 2019 after previous coaching stops with the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Dante Allen officially chose Villanova over Georgia and Tennessee. He visited Villanova last month and took in the school’s Hoops Mania event.

The Wildcats initially offered him a scholarship in 2022.

Villanova being in on him early and often was one of the reasons he ended up committing there, Allen said on the 247Sports broadcast. His father’s history there didn’t hurt.

“Being there was definitely a place I could call home,” Allen said.

“A big, power guard, he’s long and versatile with the type of skill set and basketball IQ you would expect from a coach’s son,” 247′s Adam Finkelstein wrote. “Allen is strong and physical with a naturally broader frame, good positional size at 6-foot-3, and a 6-foot-7 wingspan. He’s multipositional on both ends of the floor. Offensively, he’s a true combo guard who can play both on and off the ball. He can really get downhill to attack the rim and even has some sneaky bounce with momentum at his back.

“He’s a heady passer who takes very good care of the basketball, even when playing with a fairly aggressive mentality, as well as a good cutter off the ball. He also shoots a clean ball when he’s in rhythm from behind the three-point line, although he can still be a bit streaky at times.”

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Allen is Kyle Neptune’s first commitment in the 2025 class. The Wildcats have four freshmen on this year’s roster, plus two redshirt freshmen, Kris Parker and Jordann Dumont. Their 2024 class was ranked 23rd nationally by 247. Villanova will have at least five scholarships opening at the end of the 2024-25 season, with players exhausting eligibility. Allen’s commitment locks up one of them.

“I’m a winning player and that’s something that I don’t intend on stopping when I get to college,” Allen told 247Sports. “They’ve been a great program for so many years and I want to continue that.”