Allen and Wes Flanigan

[GwillMac6 20,851]

 

[GwillMac6 20,851]

By Jeff Shearer

12/27/2019 5:07:00 PM

AUBURN, Ala. – Much has changed for Allen Flanigan in the past year. New school, new state, new roommates.

But one thing remains the same. When the Auburn freshman basketball player looks to the bench, he’ll still see Coach Flanigan.

Only this time, it won’t be his grandfather, Al Flanigan, legendary Arkansas high school coach. It will be Al’s son, Wes – Allen’s dad – an Auburn assistant coach whose legacy Allen seeks to emulate and perhaps even exceed over the next four years.

“They coach similarly,” Allen said. “They’re both loud. They like to yell. They’re hands-on. They really just want the best out of you, push you to your limits.”

Like Allen, Wes Flanigan also played for Al Flanigan, when the patriarch was an assistant coach at Parkview High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

“I wasn’t giving him anything,” Al Flanigan said. “He earned everything.”

Newly retired after seven Arkansas state championships and 12 conference championships, Al Flanigan coached his grandson, Allen, on his final Parkview team.

“It was a wonderful experience to be able to go through some of the same things my dad went through playing in high school for his dad,” Allen said.

“For him, it was always tough love,” Wes said, recalling being coached by his father. “It’s that parent who doesn’t tell you what you want to hear but what you need to hear. When I look back on it, I’m very happy and grateful that he treated me the way he treated me, and my two brothers also, because when you get out here in the real world where nobody’s going to be patting you on the back all the time and telling you everything’s okay, you’ve got to figure it out on your own. He always took that stance with us.”

“That hard, tough love,” said Al. “Knowing that when they get the respect and love for you, they’ll run through a brick wall for you. They knew that I was just as tough on the best player as I was on the 15th player on the bench.”

“When we were smaller, he instilled those morals and those characteristics of a winner,” Wes said. “The same characteristics that he had. As we got older, he let that rope go. We always fell back on what we were taught as young ones.” 

When Wes Flanigan joined Bruce Pearl’s staff in 2018, Allen stayed in Little Rock with his grandparents for his senior season.

“Last year, he was away from us for the first time,” Wes said. “That was hard, not being able to go to some of his senior functions. We sacrificed that in order to get it all back for these next four years. We’re looking forward to it. 

“Coach Pearl and this staff have given me an opportunity to be around my son every day, which I hadn’t been able to do for 20 years, being in this profession. Always being on the road, recruiting. Always being in the gym with other people’s kids, helping them develop. Now I get a chance to help develop my own son and be around him and just see him every day. It's something that I’m definitely not going to take for granted.”

In coaching his son, Wes will draw on the lessons he learned from his father.

“I’ve been around my dad so long, I consider myself an old-school guy at heart, too,” said Wes, who looks to balance that toughness with tenderness now that it’s his turn to coach his son.

“Being able to do both is something that I’ve got to do a better job of,” Wes said. “Giving Allen a little leeway but also being there as dad and also giving him a little love, too. You’ve got to find that happy medium, giving him some tough love but also trying to encourage him, trying to motivate him, trying to give him some confidence, too. 

“I’ve got to figure out a way not to be so tough on some of these kids. That’s just who I am. That’s going to be my challenge as a coach moving forward as I get older with these younger guys.” 

Now I get a chance to help develop my own son and be around him and just see him every day. It's something that I’m definitely not going to take for granted.

Auburn assistant coach Wes Flanigan

 

Wes Flanigan’s toughness is hard earned. After his junior year at Auburn in 1996, he was diagnosed with cancer in his left arm, requiring a bone graft. Sidelined for three months, he returned for his senior season, a four-year starter at point guard who ranks No. 2 all-time on Auburn’s assist list.

Allen, too, knows the sting that comes with not being able to play the sport you love.

As a high school sophomore, he missed the season with a knee condition called osteochondritis dissecans, or OCD. 

Immobilized for six months, Allen’s recovery coincided with a robust growth spurt, during which he added six inches. His feet grew from size 11 to size 14.

Previously a point guard like his father and grandfather, Allen transformed into a 6-5, 200-pound small forward, a frame that’s continued to fill out now that he’s on campus.

“It is a big difference,” Allen said. “You’ve got to learn how to adjust to your body again because I’m used to handling the ball, passing the ball, cutting, getting guys in their spots. And now you have to learn to work without the ball, shoot the ball, get up shots, cut, set screens, maybe post up a little bit. It changes the game a lot.”

“He’s worked himself into one maybe one of the more physically imposing bodies on our team as a freshman,” Wes said. “I think he and Isaac Okoro, when you see these two guys, both of them are guys you’d say they look like players. If you were to make a basketball player out of whatever image you wanted them to be, it would be those two guys.”

The ball handling skills of a point guard. The size of a forward. A combination that should serve Allen well in the SEC.

“He’s really strong,” Wes said. “He’s really skilled for a 6-5, 6-6 kid. He can pass it, he can shoot it and he can dribble it. I think the biggest thing where Allen has got to make the biggest stride here at Auburn is just confidence. Confident that he’s one of the best players out there on the court and just going out and doing it. And I’m hoping Coach Pearl can help him with it.”

“He’s really athletic,” said Al of his grandson. “The only thing that’s missing from him now, he needs to have that old dog attitude like his daddy had. Because every day he wakes up, he’s going to be about 6-6, about 200-something. He’s got a good personality, along the same lines. Very respectful. Yes, sir. No, sir. I just love that young kid.” 

Developing a scouting report for himself is easy for Allen, already one of the first players off the bench as a true freshman.

“I can get downhill, finish at the rim,” he said. “I’m working on getting better at my defense, not allowing people to go to the middle. I can block shots. Catch and shoot. I can pass the ball and make guys better.”

Coming up with a scouting report for his father, however, is a little more challenging. With limited video to evaluate, Allen relies on what he’s heard.

“He was a pretty good player,” Allen said. “He could play defense. Steals, assists, score the ball a little bit.” 

For an assessment of his dad’s off-the-court qualities, Allen shares what he’s observed first-hand.

“He values his family a lot,” Allen said. “He makes the sacrifices so we can have what we want, and he made sure that we were good.”

Playing for his grandfather in high school prepared Allen for Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. Both coaches share penchants for excellence and exuberance.

“BP is like my grandfather, too,” Allen said. “The loud yelling. He shows his emotions.”

“Bruce Pearl reminds me a lot of myself,” Al said. “He’s got a lot of energy on that sideline. I love watching him. He doesn’t quit coaching until the clock reaches zero-zero.”

Now that he’s retired, Al plans to be a regular this season at Auburn Arena.

“Every time you look up, you’ll see me,” he said. “Y’all will get sick of looking at me.”

Allen plans to follow his father and grandfather in the family business.

“I want to coach after basketball is over,” he said. “You’re still around the game. You still get to work out with players. I just want to be around basketball.” 

Basketball is not the only avenue in which Allen displays creativity.

“He’s a really good artist,” Wes said. “He can really draw. It’s something that he’s been given as a talent, but he doesn’t really take much of an interest in it. He wants to coach, follow in dad’s footsteps.”

For now, Allen reserves his artistry for the basketball court at Auburn Arena, joining a program that, having reached the pinnacle, seeks to remain in national contention.

“My goals are to be the best player I can be, hopefully. I want to be All-SEC and hopefully make it back to a Final Four. Just win games,” Allen said. “Coming in, we’re just hungry, working hard, trying to compete. Make each other better in practice. Hopefully it transitions to the floor in games.” 

Now it’s Allen’s turn to add to the Flanigan family legacy on the Plains, building on the foundation his father began two decades ago.

“I’ve always wanted to come back to Auburn and serve,” Wes said. “Now I get to come back to Auburn, be a part of a Final Four, work with good people in Coach Pearl and his son, be a part of this program.

“Now that my son is in it, we have some sort of a legacy going and we just want to continue to make Auburn proud of us.”

 

[GwillMac6 20,851]

[doverstutts 1,643]

My granddaughter is engaged to a coach who did his grad work under Flanigan at UALR....He really thinks a lot of the Flanigan family....

[Mikey 16,781]

When we signed Allen I thought maybe we were simply throwing his dad a bone. NOT SO! That guy can play. I'm looking forward to watching his development.

[jared52 4,358]

7 hours ago, Mikey said:

When we signed Allen I thought maybe we were simply throwing his dad a bone. NOT SO! That guy can play. I'm looking forward to watching his development.

I felt the same without really paying attention to him as a player. He’s been a good role player so far and I hope his progress continues. He could make an impact similar to his dad at AU.

[steeleagle 2,945]

3 hours ago, jared52 said:

I felt the same without really paying attention to him as a player. He’s been a good role player so far and I hope his progress continues. He could make an impact similar to his dad at AU.

I was at the last game that Flanigan played quite a lot in. He seems to be a scorer, but not sure he's real accurate as a shooter. Time will tell as he gets a lot of practice. He looks like a freshman most of the time, but he definitely can guard which i think is why he played so much last game. 

[AU64 10,122]

Don't recall hearing his name called today....did he play....I like his energy and he's good as defensive back-up....

[tgrogan21 6,198]

7 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Don't recall hearing his name called today....did he play....I like his energy and he's good as defensive back-up....

One of the worst games he's had. The only stats he had were 3 fouls and 2 turnovers.

[AU64 10,122]

46 minutes ago, tgrogan21 said:

One of the worst games he's had. The only stats he had were 3 fouls and 2 turnovers.

Ouch.....well at least he got his name in the scorebook.   What we learned back in the day is if you were a scrub, you had to actually do something to get your name in the book and a quick foul was the best way to assure that you showed up in the box score....but this is over doing it. 

[GTNupe11 2,634]

I mean it's not like the kid wasn't the best HS player in Arkansas in his class... I'd see if he wasn't in terms of "throwing his dad a bone."

[steeleagle 2,945]

17 hours ago, tgrogan21 said:

One of the worst games he's had. The only stats he had were 3 fouls and 2 turnovers.

That's what I'm talking about, especially with all these FR and SO players. Up and down. I saw where JJ had a good game Sunday, but in other games he too has disappeared.

I think that is what Flanigan will do a lot during the SEC. Up and down. Gus will use these new guys in short spurts bc he doesn't know what he will get when they are in there....especially in offense.