NC State shooting guard Thomas Allen will miss rest of 2021 season

NC State announced Tuesday afternoon that shooting guard Thomas Allen is being shut down for the rest of the 2021 season. Allen injured an ankle in practice a while back and hasn’t appeared in a game since Feb. 13. Kevin Keatts issued the following statement about the situation:

“We’ll always do the right thing for our players,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “After consulting with our doctors, I think shutting down Thomas for the rest of the season is the right decision. Thomas was injured in practice a few weeks ago and his ankle just hasn’t healed enough to play him. We’re at the point now where we need to keep him off his feet and in a few weeks, we’ll re-evaluate and decide on what the next steps are.”

There may be as few as three games left in State’s 2021 campaign, so it doesn’t make sense to risk anything by trying to get him back out there. NC State’s offense actually has been fine without Allen, anyway, and his minutes are better invested in the freshmen at this point, whether the Wolfpack can make a real run at an NCAA tournament bid or not.

Allen was pretty much as advertised when healthy, providing the Pack with a solid perimeter scoring option. His 37.9% shooting from beyond the arc is a career best, and he was among the team’s leaders in steal rate at the defensive end.