2006 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE | DINO ALLEN
Dino Allen graduated from Milligan College in 1991 with a B.S. in business administration and a minor in psychology.
Dino grew up in the New York borough of the Bronx. He first attended Roane State Community College before Coach Tony Wallingford sold him on Milligan and he transferred in 1988 for his junior and senior years. He had been recruited to play basketball and was instrumental in turning Milligan basketball around.
Under the coaching of Wallingford, Dino helped to improve Milligan basketball from the nine consecutive losing seasons prior to leading the team to back-to-back winning seasons. His junior year he averaged 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game. Dino was voted All-Conference, All-District, and National Christian College Athletic Association Division I All-American second team. That year the team’s record was 21-11, the most wins in nine years, and the team also qualified for the NAIA District 24 playoffs.
His senior year he averaged 22 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists a game and was the team captain. He topped the school record with 73 dunks in a year, five in a single game, and an average of 2.1 a game. His senior year he led the Buffs to win 27 games and the TVAC championship, the NAIA District 24 playoffs and NCCAA Division I Elite Eight. He was voted TVAC player of the year, NAIA All-District 24, and NCCAA Division I All American first team. He led the team to Milligan’s first basketball conference championship in 11 years. Dino’s career points at Milligan were 1,303, an average of 19.9 points a game. Students and players alike agreed that Dino played with enthusiasm and brought a great deal not only to the basketball court but to the Milligan community.
Currently Dino lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife, Beverly, and their 11-year-old daughter Aliyah. He is the director of produce sales for Glory Foods and an active member of Trinity Baptist Church.
One of Dino’s fondest memories of his time with the basketball team at Milligan was when they were traveling to St. Louis for a holiday tournament. They were on the trusty Milligan bus driving through Lexington, Kentucky, when all of a sudden there was a loud noise as the bus’s rear axel broke and the two left wheels came off and started bouncing down the interstate. There was much screaming and panic, but Coach Wallingford calmly guided the bus to the side of the road, and out of harm’s way. The story did not end there, though.
The next day; the team borrowed a bus to continue the trip to St. Louis. What the team was unaware of at the time was the bus’s engine was governed to only reach a top speed of 45 miles per hour. So not only did they have go to St. Louis on this bus, but they had to drive it all the way back to Milligan once the tournament was over. That was the longest road trip in history. “I must say the team gave Coach Wallingford a few gray hairs on that trip”.
For his contributions to Milligan basketball, we are pleased to induct Dino Allen into the 2006 Athletics Hall of Fame.