Old Dominion announced that legendary basketball coach Sonny Allen died peacefully Friday morning at age 84 in Reno, Nevada.
He had suffered from Parkinson’s disease that had gotten worse in the past few months, according to his son, Billy.
Allen won 181 games in 10 seasons with ODU. In his final season with the Monarchs, he coached them to their first NCAA championship. Meanwhile, he laid the foundation for ODU’s rise to Division I and integrated state college basketball.
He came to ODU in 1965, turning a program that played in high school gyms into an NCAA Division II power that occasionally sold out Norfolk Scope. His Monarchs advanced to the 1971 D-II title game, losing at Evansville, then won the 1975 championship by beating New Orleans in Evansville.
He then took the coaching job at Division I Southern Methodist, but many of the players he recruited and left behind would guide ODU to a 25-4 record and the National invitation Tournament in 1977-78 with Paul Webb as coach, the Monarchs’ first Division I season.
Allen coached in numerous places, retiring in 2001 with a 613-383 record. He was an innovator in fast-break basketball.
He recruited Black players Bob Pritchett and Arthur “Buttons” Speakes, who played their first varsity season for ODU in 1966-67. That opened the door for other predominantly white schools to recruit Black players.
Allen’s wife, Donna, and four children, including daughters Jackie Eldrenkamp, Kelly Marcantel and Jennifer Allen, were in Reno when he died, as were stepchildren Jimmy Warner and Tedi Holdmann, according to ODU. Allen is also survived by eight grandchildren and five great grandsons.
“He fought a good fight and was an awesome dad for all of us,” Billy Allen told ODU. “He’s in heaven now. There’s no more Parkinson’s, no more suffering.
“Dad knew this was coming. He knew the end was near. We had great talks about this, and he was strong and faithful.”
