Allen named coach at Miami high school

Former Miami Heat guard Ray Allen has been named coach at Miami’s Gulliver Prep, where he also will serve as director of boys and girls basketball.

Best known in South Florida for his 3-pointer that helped the Heat win the 2013 NBA championship over the San Antonio Spurs, Allen lives a short distance from the school, where his son, Ray Allen Jr., is a freshman guard.

“We are excited to announce that we have selected Ray Allen as our new Director of Boys and Girls Basketball,” the school announced on its Twitter feed. “He will also serve as our Varsity Boys Basketball Head Coach. Coach Allen brings unparalleled expertise to the helm of our basketball programs. Join us in welcoming him!”

Allen, 46, had been involved in Gulliver’s middle-school basketball program, before taking this first-time role as a head coach.

Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, Allen was selected by former Heat forward Chris Bosh to be one of his presenters, along with Heat President Pat Riley, at next month’s inductions at the shrine.

Allen retired in 2014 at the end of his two-season run with the Heat, maintaining a South Florida residence since.

In addition to his championship with the Heat in 2013, Allen also won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and an Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Sydney Games. He was a 10-time All-Star over an NBA tenure that also included time with the Seattle SuperSonics and Milwaukee Bucks.

Dating to his tenure as a player in high school, he was named Mr. Basketball in South Carolina in 1993.

Off the court, Allen is perhaps best known for his role as Jesus Shuttlesworth when he co-starred in the 1998 Spike Lee

film “He Got Game” alongside Denzel Washington. He also appeared in the 2001 film “Harvard Man.”

In the community, Allen has served as a spokesman for the Jr. NBA.WNBA program and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, as well as member of United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

Of the hire, Jim Calhoun, who coached Allen at UConn, told Hearst Connecticut Media, “He’s a smart guy. There’s no reason why he couldn’t do well. It’s just that, sometimes a guy who’s that great and worked that hard, his expectations are high. Which is great. I think it’s terrific for him.”