(During my chat with Duane Allen, of the Oak Ridge Boys, we briefly talked about his passion for basketball. This also appeared in the Aug. 28 edition of The Anderson News.)
Had Duane Allen not
become a mega-success with The Oak Ridge Boys, chances are he would
have become a highly-successful basketball coach at some level.
At least, that is
how he had it planned.
“I get right into
the very intracacies of coaching,” Allen said last week before
taking the stage at the Kentucky State Fair. “I had dreamed when I
was in school that I would be doing this until I got tired of it. I
never dreamed it would last as long as it has.
 |
| Duane Allen, left, and William Lee Golden at the Ky. State Fair. |
“I wanted to get
an education degree so I could teach. I dreamed I would probably wind
up in some school teaching music and coaching basketball. I love the
game that much.”
Allen says as a
high schooler in Texas, he was a 3-point shooter before there was a
3-point line. “It didn't mean any more than a layup then,” Allen
chuckled.
The Kentucky
Wildcats became one of his favorite basketball teams, a passion that
was cemented over the years. “I have always loved Big Blue
basketball,” Allen says. “My wife is from Kentucky (Bowling
Green), my son-in-law is from Lexington. One of my children went to
Kentucky for two years, one went for a year.”
Both eventually
transferred to be closer to their Nashville home.
Allen's son, Dee,
is a Nashville musician. Daughter Jamie is married to Paul Martin,
who spent some time with the popular central Kentucky group, Exile,
and now plays in country singer Marty Stuart's band.
For Duane Allen,
the Big Blue roots run deep.
“My daughter was
(former UK athletic director) C.M. Newton's secretary and worked in
Rick Pitino's office when he was with the Big Blue,” Allen says,
“so I went to a lot of Big Blue basketball games. I really like
John Calipari. I met him when he was in Memphis.”
Allen, though, is a
fan of many teams. He, and several other members of the Oak Ridge
Boys, support Vanderbilt, the major college team in their adopted
hometown.
The preferences of
someone who has made a living singing four-part harmony should not
come as a surprise. He loves five-part harmony on the hardwood.
“I love great
basketball when it is taught as the game of life,” Allen says. “Of
course you have to put the ball in the hoop, but you also teach the
game of life like John Wooden taught (at UCLA). I am a fan of team
basketball. Traditional basketball. I am not much of a fan of
attitude players. They come and go and they come at every school. I
am not putting my finger on one or another or talking about this
one.”
 |
| Duane and Joe Bonall fist-bump during the singing of "Reach out and Touch a Hand." |
Teams Allen follows
sounds like the lineup of the most powerful names in college hoops
history. Not only does he follow Kentucky, he mentioned North
Carolina as another favorite along with a guy Cat fans love to
despise.
“Indiana, when
Bobby Knight was there,” Allen smiles. “I loved Bobby Knight, I
don't care if he did throw a chair. I liked him because he built
strong character in his players. I liked Arizona when Lute (Olsen)
was out there. He had strong, strong teams and good people.
“I like Gonzaga
right now. They have great basketball and teach them about the game
of life and turn out good men.
“I like schools
that turn out quality people with character. Basketball is not a game
of how hot-shot you are. It is a game of skill. It is not how heavy
you can knock somebody to the floor to shoot a layup.”
When done right,
it's simply five-part harmony.
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