Duke’s Grayson Allen steals show with eye-popping combine numbers

Considered a fringe first-round pick, Blue Devils guard's performance could vault him up the draft board

Blue Devils guard Grayson Allen drives to the basket as Virginia Tech guard Justin Bibbs defends during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. (Rob Kinnan / USA TODAY Sports)

Throughout his collegiate career, Duke’s Grayson Allen often found himself the talk of the college basketball world.

It looks like he’s carrying that over to the NBA.

While most mock drafts have Allen going late in the first or early in the second round, he is setting himself apart from the rest of the field at the NBA Combine in New York.

In Thursday’s testing, Allen reportedly posted a 10.31-second lane-agility drill, one of the top times in combine history.

He also reportedly posted the second-best shuttle time this year (3.4 seconds) and sixth-best vertical leap (40.5 inches).

That vertical leap also comes with an added benefit. While most prospects leaped off of both feet to reach as high as they could, Allen did his leap off of one foot. According to SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell, “scouts always look for one-footed leapers because they can get off the ground quicker.” O’Donnell listed Allen as one of his combine winners.

Allen also told reporters Friday at the combine that he will indeed talk with the NBA executives about the issue that dogged him throughout his career at Duke — his habit of tripping opponents.

“You have to address it, for sure. It’s something that comes from my competitiveness,” Allen said. “Competitiveness that I’ve had as a player, competitiveness that was pointed in the wrong direction and went over the line. It’s obviously something that I needed to work on and address.”