UConn Hoops Newcomer Notebook: No. 4 Nahiem Alleyne
When five year UConn sharpshooter Tyler Polley graduated this year, the Huskies knew they needed to reload with another marksman. Just eight days after UConn nabbed point guard Tristen Newton from the transfer portal, they struck again, landing Nahiem Alleyne of Virginia Tech, who projects to be the Huskies’ three-point specialist for the next two years.
Before college, Alleyne played at Mountain View High School in Lawrenceville, GA, where he had a successful career. In his senior season, Alleyne scored 17.2 points per game on 63 triples, en route to the GHSA all-State and all-Region teams. This proved to be good enough for the shooting guard to be tabbed as a 4-Star by Rivals and commit to ACC Virginia Tech.
Alleyne made an instant impact as a freshman, notching a combined 29 points in his first two games. He continued to help the Hokies throughout the year, but was inconsistent at times. He notched a season-high 22 points in a loss against BYU on 7-13 shooting. Alleyne was a bright spot on a Tech squad that saw little success, losing 11 of their final 13 games, including a romp in the ACC Tournament versus UNC.
His sophomore season was much better from a team perspective, as the Hokies put up a lot more wins than they did the previous year, including a 4-0 record against ranked opponents in the regular season. Alleyne posted 20 points on 12 shots in Virginia Tech’s Bubbleville upset over No. 3 Villanova in a contest that was scheduled just days earlier. In the Hokies’ sole NCAA tournament game against Florida, Alleyne erupted for a career-high 28 points, three of which came at the regulation buzzer to send the game to overtime. Although he wasn’t able to will the squad to victory, his effort was outstanding and raised his season PPG total to 11.1.
Alleyne took on a bit of a smaller role in his junior year, reducing his scoring output to 9.6 per game, although the Hokies collected more victories. He consistently started and put up double figures, highlighted by a combined 39 points in back to back ranked losses to No. 9 Memphis and No. 25 Xavier. He played a considerable role in Tech’s improbable ACC Tournament run, where they took down UNC and Duke, two eventual Final Four teams.
THE SCOUTING REPORT...
Alleyne’s primary job as a Husky will be to shoot threes, although his game is much deeper than that. Last season, Alleyne hit 49 threes on 126 tries, good for 39%. This percentage would be the best on last year’s UConn for a player with as many or more attempts. Alleyne’s lefty form looks a little funky, but more than gets the job done. He can put the ball in the basket from all three levels, with a reliable midrange shot that becomes more effective as he hits more threes.
His strong pump-fake eludes defenders and allows him to get to his spots and find teammates. Every now and then you’ll see a surprise dunk from Alleyne, but he isn’t known for putting his defenders on posters. His rebounding abilities are generally competent, but with Andre Jackson and Adama Sanogo in the mix, it shouldn’t matter much. Alleyne won’t be asked to do much facilitating playing off-ball, but in fastbreak situations or in spots where there’s an open man, he’ll make the right play.
Defensively, Alleyne won’t record a ton of massive blocks or steals, but is competent and consistent. His skillset is exactly what UConn needs–someone who can shoot it and defend multiple positions. “My biggest strength is my defense,” Alleyne told Shreyas Laddha of the Hartford Courant. “I’ve always been a guy that’s better defensively than offensively when I was younger. As I got older, I got better with offense and whatnot. I’m a guy that communicates, good on the ball, and good team defensive player. I feel like I have a good feel for defense.”
STORRS IMPACT...
At UConn, Alleyne figures to slot in as a starter into a UConn backcourt that is loaded with talent. He should fit nicely alongside Jackson and Jordan Hawkins, providing a significant scoring punch that the Huskies need. His three point stroke will be his largest contribution, but his defense will keep Alleyne on the floor for extended stretches. He should get the chance to explore some other areas of his game too, but with Polley gone, Alleyne will need to hit better than 35-37% from deep if UConn wants to finish in the upper portion of the Big East. Alleyne projects to score roughly 9-11 points per game, which he has proven an ability to do throughout his career. There’s no reason that Alleyne can’t help Coach Dan Hurley to new heights and bring the Huskies deep into March.
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