NAMPA, Idaho – The Northwest Nazarene men's basketball program recently added point guard Tru Allen.

Allen, from Lapwai, Idaho, played his high school ball for Clarkston (Wash.) High School and was named the Class 2A State Player of the Year this year.

"Tru is a high-level point guard who is a tremendous fit for our system at NNU," coach Paul Rush said. "He is at his best in transition and coming off of ball screens, and his strengths will be able to be on full display during his time at NNU."

Allen, who stands 6-feet tall and weighs 175 pounds, averaged 21.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game last season. He maintained a 3.5 grade point average throughout high school and was named first-team all-league as a football player.

"I wanted to come to NNU because of the community and the people," said Allen, who broke Clarkston's career scoring record held by former Gonzaga star Josh Heytvelt.

Allen was also named the Great Northern League MVP in 2019-20 and led the Bantams to second place in the state tournament, scoring 26 points in the championship game. He also holds school records in assists and free throws and was the only freshman to make varsity at Clarkston, racking up 65 wins in his four years.

He told the Lewiston Morning Tribune he's excited about heading to Nampa because of the offense the Nighthawks run, "There's a lot of ball screens. The point guard gets a lot of the action. Being a point guard, you wanna go somewhere you can run the show for your team. It's no guarantee, but it's up for grabs. I have to work for it."

Allen joins the 2020-21 signing class that includes Mason Machado, Kyle Gruhler and Andrew Ferrin.

The Nighthawks are coming off of a 15-11 season and a second consecutive berth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament. NNU graduated Adalberto Diaz, Jayden Bezzant and Olamilekan Adetunji from the starting lineup as well as Zac Furgerson and Felix White from the bench.

Allen, along with the rest of the incoming class, will have their work cut out to help replace the level of talent leaving the program.

"Tru is one of the best on-ball defenders I was able to evaluate and I'm excited to see him establish himself as an impact player in the GNAC," Rush said. "Tru helped carry on the strong tradition that Clarkston has and he played with Idaho Select, where Coach Clint Hordemann and the Select program have done a tremendous job getting their players ready for the collegiate level."