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Laura Allen was a single parent of three and a school teacher when I met her as an NSR scout. It’s an experience I’ll never forget. Having seen me at several of her middle daughter’s basketball games, Laura had asked around about me and had discovered what I did for a living. Someone told her that I was a college scout and helped high school kids get college scholarships.
The oldest Allen child had already earned a soccer scholarship to play at West Point and was about to complete her first year there. She was the quintessential oldest child, excelling at everything she did and setting a very high bar for her younger siblings. Taryn, second of the three, was about to finish her junior year at T.C. Roberson High School in Asheville, N.C. A stellar soccer player like her sister, Taryn nonetheless loved hoops and wanted to pursue a college offer, if one was possible. But there was a major problem facing Taryn and her dream. Up until that point, no colleges had contacted her although she had already made 3A All-Conference twice and played travel basketball for one of North Carolina’s premier organizations, the Lady Royals. She and her mother had, in fact, fallen into the Twilight Zone of high school recruiting – she was good enough to play in college, but coaches didn’t know she existed.
When Laura approached me at halftime of one of Taryn’s final regular season basketball games, she was serious from the get-go.
“Are you Alan Parham?” She asked.
“Yes, ma’am, I am.”
“My name is Laura Allen. I understand that you help high school kids get college scholarships,” she continued.
“Yes, ma’am, I do.”
“And do you know my daughter, Taryn Allen?”
“Why, yes ma’am, I do,” I replied.
“And what do you think? Is she good enough to play college basketball?” Laura pressed.
“Yes, I’m sure of it,” I said.
“Okay,” she said, “then we need to talk with you as soon as possible.”
I enrolled Taryn with NSR the next night. Working with Laura and Taryn was one of the most rewarding experiences of my NSR career. See, Taryn suffered a terrible boating injury the day before her senior year started. Her jaw was wired shut for six weeks. This put her woefully behind in conditioning and practice. A three-point specialist, Taryn had to work very hard to get her mojo back, not to mention her shooting stroke. I should note that two days prior to her accident, I had taped her making 18 of 20 three-point shots during her skill video for college coaches. The girl could shoot. And that video paid off in the end.
Basketball season ended with Taryn, now a senior, having once again being named All-Conference, despite what she had gone through. Still, only DIII schools seemed interested and Taryn was determined to play at the DII level. I had a good relationship with the women’s head coach at Division II Catawba College and during a trip through that area in March, I stopped by her office to show her Taryn’s video and to tell her Taryn’s story. She was impressed and reached out to Taryn that evening.
A week later, while scouting a softball game, I got a call from Laura. This is how it went:
“Alan, this is Laura. I have a question for you,” she said. I knew that something was different because her voice was subdued. It was not the assertive Laura I was accustomed to speaking with.
“Okay, shoot,” I said.
“I have a letter here from the Catawba Coach. In it she lists all the different types of money she wants to offer Taryn,” she said. Laura went on to list about five or six various scholarships, grants and loans in the packaged offer. She continued, “And at the end of the letter it says that if Taryn accepts the offer that we will only have to pay a total of $1,500.00 next year for Tayrn’s to go to school there. Can that be right? I mean, can this be real?”
“Laura,” I said, “this coach does not joke around. What you have in your hand is one of the best offers I’ve ever heard from a DII coach. Yes, it’s real.”
The silence at the other end of the call was palpable. I could hear Laura crying. After about 30 seconds or so, she started to speak again.
“Alan, for a good long time I doubted that this could happen, but I want you to know that I know this would not have been possible without you and NSR. Taryn, my whole family and I will always be grateful for what you’ve done for us.”
That’s changing lives and that’s why I love this work.
National Scouting Report is dedicated to finding scholarship opportunities for athletes who possess the talent, desire, and motivation to compete at the collegiate level. We’ve helped connect thousands of athletes with their perfect college.