There's awe at the athletic feats the two-sport star achieved in emerging as one of the best athletes the Tampa Bay area has ever produced. And there's also sadness that Allison's inability to avoid trouble derailed such a promising life.
Allison, 30, died outside a Columbus, Ohio apartment complex from a gun shot wound to the chest, according to several Ohio news reports. Ohio TV station WTVQ reported that police believe the shooting may have stemmed from an argument between two women.
It would have been difficult to predict such a tragic outcome as recently as 13 years ago when Allison had just signed with Kentucky after concluding one of the most spectacular dual-sport high school careers any Tampa area athlete has ever produced.
On the football field, the 6-foot-5 Allison outleapt overmatched corners for passes, hauling in 38 catches including 15 for touchdowns. And on the basketball court, he averaged 34.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 10 assists as a senior, leading Robinson to its first state tourney berth in 18 years in 1998.
"Desmond Allison was one of the most gifted athletes I ever played against in high school," longtime NBA star Tracy McGrady tweeted Monday night. "Hated playing against him, but loved playin with him."
Allison started 46 games in two seasons at Kentucky, averaging a modest 7.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore but flashing enough promise to keep Wildcats fans hopeful that his offense might soon catch up to his shut-down defense. Allison's jovial personality and tantalizing athleticism also apparently masked some disciplinary issues that would ultimately end his college basketball career prematurely.
Just before the 2000 NCAA tournament, police arrested Allison for driving through a stoplight with an open bottle of Hennessy cognac in the seat next to him.
Many universities would have suspended Allison and forced him to enroll in counseling, but Kentucky dismissed him from school as a result of a short-lived zero-tolerance DUI policy stemming from a deadly 1998 automobile crash involving two Wildcats football players. In a 2005 St. Petersburg Times story, Allison recalled pleading with then-coach Tubby Smith to be more lenient when informed that his scholarship would be revoked.
"Oh, please, pleeeease," he sobbed. "Isn't there anything we can do? Oh, God, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
It's difficult not to look back on the Kentucky administration's decision to cut Allison loose rather than help him rehabilitate as a pivotal moment in his life.
Had he returned to Kentucky, maybe he wouldn't have been in and out of jail on drug charges. Maybe he wouldn't have had to attempt to resurrect his basketball career at NAIA Martin Methodist or his football career at Division II South Dakota. And maybe he wouldn't have wound up in the path of a bullet in Columbus on Monday afternoon.
Regardless of Allison's unfortunate decisions and untapped potential, his friends and family will remember his infectious personality and his remarkable athletic achievements.
"I'll tell you what, in all my life, Desmond Allison was the best athlete I've ever seen," Robinson High football coach Mike DePue told the Tampa Tribune. "He had opportunities that he squandered, but he kept trying. He had a great personality. This is a sad, sad turn of events.''
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