Alumni Athlete Coach: Men's Basketball Assistant Coach Kevin Allison

10/24/23

Kevin Allison is entering his third seasons as an Assistant Coach for Mercer men's basketball.   Allison played on the Vikings basketball team in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. Allison discussed why he came back to MCCC, what coaching his alma mater is like and some of his memories from his time as a student athlete at Mercer.

Ironically, Allison didn’t initially want to be a coach. “I never had an interest in coaching because I thought I would hate it until I actually did it and found out I was pretty good at it.” Allison started coaching at his former high school, Florence Twp. Memorial and then made the move to the collegiate level to help his former MCCC Coach, Howard Levy.

When discussing what he enjoys most about coaching, Allison said “seeing the results of players that come to me for advice, apply it, and succeed with the help is the best feeling. I also enjoy building relationships with players. I almost feel like a big brother since I am not that much older than them (even though they still see me as an old man.)”

Allison discussed the difference between playing and coaching. “The biggest difference I would say is the importance of patience and communication. As a player you can pretty much take matters into your own hands sometimes and lead by example. As a coach you have to find the best way to relate to a player and communicate what you mean in a way that they can understand it. This can be difficult sometimes which is where the patience comes in handy.”

During his two years playing at MCCC, Allison was a part of teams that won 35 games over two seasons. Allison went from a role player who saw limited minutes his freshman year to a starter in his sophomore season. Allison’s averages from freshman to sophomore year reflect his improvement, going from 2.9 points per game (ppg) to 7.1 ppg, 1.5 rebounds per game (rpg) to 3.3 rpg and 0.9 assists per game (apg) to 1.7 apg. The growth Allison was able to experience between his two seasons at Mercer, helped him gain patience and handle the many ups and downs that can come with a sports season.  "In the classroom and on the court MCCC helped me to realize that life is challenging and if you don’t challenge yourself then you will never improve.”

Allison hopes his experience as a former player can translate well with the current players. “From day one my goal has been to compete for (and win) a National Championship. As a player my freshman year we were close to achieving this and lost in the Region Championship, so I want to teach our players on what it takes to become a champion. My goals for the players are to see everyone on our roster get an offer or scholarship to continue their education at a four year school.”

Allison chose to come to MCCC to play basketball with the goal of continuing his education at a four year school, which he did. After his two years at MCCC, Allison transferred to Bloomsburg University and graduated with a degree in Information Technology in 2017.

As for how he ended up back coaching at MCCC, Allison wanted to give back to places that helped him. “As a coach I love giving back to places that have helped me so this is my way of doing so with all that MCCC helped me with.”

When asked to recall his favorite memory from playing at MCCC, Allison recalled a Region 19 playoff game against Burlington County College (now RCSJ Burlington). “My favorite memory would be my freshman year where we successfully came back from a 20 point deficiet with five minutes left in the game to upset BCC and advance to the semifinals of the playoffs.” The Vikings beat BCCC 48-47 on a length of the court drive and buzzer beater basket by Tyliek Kimbrough. The Vikings advanced to the Region 19 Championship game following a 91-55 win vs Lackawanna in the Semifinals. But the Vikings tournament run ended with a 59-65 loss vs Essex in the title game.


Allison is currently a Network Engineer for Comcast. Allison enjoys “the flexibility and wealth of knowledge” he has gained through his work with Comcast. The knowledge Allison has gained from his education and basketball continue to help him on and off the court. And he hopes to influence and inspire the players he coaches to strive to continue their education and if possible, playing career at the next level, a four year school.