NCAA Basketball: 10 most hated players all-time in the sport

2. Grayson Allen – Duke

I am sensing a trend among great Duke players and their perception by the fans?  Here is yet another Duke player who was given a long leash by Coach K and seemed to use up every last inch of that leash. Even though he did not look it, Allen was one of the more athletic players on the Duke team that defeated Wisconsin for the National Championship. The guard was a McDonalds All American and won the dunk contest at that event.

Allen never fully lived up to the lofty expectations put on him after his breakout sophomore year that saw him score 22 points per game. Heading into his sophomore year the guard was being lauded for his performance in the National Championship game in which he scored 16 points and 8 of them in a row. Allen was a good 4 year player for Duke but it is not his not his play that will live on in everyone’s memory.

During his sophomore year in a physical and aggressive game against Louisville, Allen intentionally tripped Louisville’s Ray Spalding. He was assessed a technical for it, but a short time later he could be seen throwing his elbows around in a scuffle for a rebound. This led to another technical and an ejection for the profanity laced tirade directed at the referee a little later. Allen would go on to intentionally trip Elon’s Steven Santa Ana a season later leading to a suspension from the team.

Allen has always made it out that he was the victim and people were picking on him throughout the entire 4-year career at Duke he never seemed to truly mature and at moments acted a lot younger than his age would suggest. His actions and playing of the “victim card” wore on fans. The act became tired quickly and many fans believe Coach K was too lenient on his star. Allen currently plays for the Utah Jazz in the NBA, where just recently he was back to his old actions on rookie Grant Williams. Old Habits die hard.