By Cody Stark
Assistant Sports Editor
HUNTSVILLE — It didn’t take long for senior guard Corey Allmond to make his mark at Sam Houston State .
In fact, all it took was a record-tying performance in his first game as a Bearkat to grab the attention of the rest of the schools in the Southland Conference.
As a junior transfer from Howard College last year, Allmond matched a school record by drilling eight 3-pointers in a 100-42 victory over Schreiner in Sam Houston’s season opener. He finished the season ranked 14th nationally in 3-pointers made per game (3.3) and helped the Bearkats finish tied for second in the SLC by leading the team in scoring (15.3) thanks to a 44-percent success rate from behind the arc.
Flash forward to this season.
Even though Allmond’s shooting numbers are down percentage-wise (38 percent from 3), he is still putting together a remarkable season. The first-team All-SLC selection is Sam Houston’s second-leading scorer (16.3) and is 20th in the nation in 3-pointers made per contest (3.03).
He is also a big reason the Bearkats are the league’s regular-season champions and the top seed in the Southland Conference tournament, which begins today at the Merrell Center in Katy.
“We had a need at the two guard and coach (Jason) Hooten did a nice job of recruiting Corey,” SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said Tuesday on the eve of today’s opening round game against Nicholls. “We had to hang in until the very end and were able to sign him a couple of weeks after signing day. He came in shooting and hopefully he will go out shooting.
“He hasn’t shot the ball as well as he did last year, but a lot of that is the attention given to him, especially in conference. Everybody is like your neighbor in conference. They know what you do best.”
Shooting from long range is exactly what Allmond does best and plenty of teams have found that out.
Earlier this season, Allmond gained national attention by draining 11 treys, which set a Rupp Arena, SHSU and Southland Conference record, in the Bearkats’ 102-92 loss to fourth-ranked Kentucky in Lexington.
With all his success, Allmond doesn’t mind sharing the spotlight. He knows that if it wasn’t for his teammates then Sam Houston (22-7) wouldn’t be in ideal position to clinch its second-ever trip to the NCAA tournament.
“It isn’t me. I can’t take all the credit,” Allmond said. “I need a point guard, teammates who can find me when I’m open like Ashton (Mitchell), Josten Crow, Lance (Pevehouse), Drae (Murray) and (Gilberto) Clavell. They are looking.
“The thing about this team is that we aren’t looking to get ours, everybody gets involved. Clavell can get 30 (points) in any given night. We are all looking for the open man.”
When Allmond lets a shot fly from the perimeter, there is a buzz spreading like wildfire throughout the crowd. His shot just looks so effortless and when he misses, which doesn’t seem like very often, it isn’t by much.
It’s hard to believe that a shot so smooth didn’t come naturally.
Allmond was a point guard in high school, but the moment he stepped foot on the Howard College campus in Big Spring, assistant coach Jason Sautter drug the Oxon Hill, Md., native into the gym and began transforming him into one of the most deadly 3-point shooters in the nation.
“Coach Sautter kept me in the gym all the time,” Allmond said. “He wasn’t a gym rat, but a coaching rat. He stayed in his office all the time. He even called me in the gym at 1 in the morning to shoot one time. We worked and shot all the time. He just kept me working.”
When Allmond comes out and starts hitting shots, the rest of the Bearkats seem to generate off his energy and making 3s becomes contagious.
If Allmond can get it going in the SLC tournament, especially with the inside threat that Clavell now brings to the table, Sam Houston is more than capable of rolling through the SLC tournament.
“We certainly feed off him,” Marlin said. “When Corey is hitting 3s, it makes him better individually and our team better. We are able to get some runs and it has been a big part of our success.
“He is a better player when his shots are going in and most of the time they go in which is fortunate for us. He has done a good job.”
