He’s heading home.
After using the past season to prove he was one of the better transfer power forwards in college basketball with the UNM Lobos, Josiah Allick announced on Tuesday via social media he will be transferring to a familiar place: Nebraska.
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Allick, who played at North Star High School in Lincoln, Nebraska, spent his first three collegiate seasons at Missouri-Kansas City before transferring for the 2022-23 season to the UNM Lobos, where he started all 34 games, averaging 8.4 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 55.7% from the floor. He was also a versatile defender, guarding opponent’s 2 through 5 positions at various times throughout the season. His 31.9 minutes per game were second most on the team.
“My whole game is just hustle. A lot of the impact that I have on the game doesn’t show up in the stat sheet,” Allick told the Journal in December.
Allick picked Nebraska over several other suitors, including Mountain West rival San Diego State, where he took an official recruiting visit last month. The Aztecs made it clear they would have loved to have been able to plug the 6-foot-8, 240-pounder into their physical frontcourt.
Aside from being from Lincoln, Allick’s sister plays for the Cornhuskers’ national power volleyball team and his stepfather played football at Nebraska.
After this past season, Allick sat down with the Journal for a podcast conversation about his decision to leave UNM, despite ample playing time and his arrival as a fan favorite in the Pit.
“One of the biggest things was I just kind of wanted to go find somewhere where I would be utilized in a little bit more consistent and bigger role, and be able to do more within that role,” Allick said in that podcast.
He added that despite some wondering if something had gone wrong with his time at UNM, his transfer out wasn’t about drama or bad relationships. Allick acknowledged he would likely be leaving more potential NIL earnings on the table at UNM than wherever he was transferring to.
“Everything off the court was perfectly fine,” Allick said. “No one fighting in the locker room, no mistreatment or abuse by (head coach Richard) Pitino in any degree.
“It’s probably hard for people to really consider that or take it legitimately considering the current climate of it all. There definitely are people that, when they’re looking for a spot or they leaving a spot, it really is just, ‘OK, where can I go make the most money?’ It’s fair, you know? People have different obligations. I’m lucky. I’m not in a position where I’m having to support a family or take care of people back home. … For me, I’m in a position where I can just try to find what I feel is the best basketball fit without having to really worry about that.”
Two other Lobos in the primary seven-man rotation from this past season have also transferred to schools that are closer to their hometowns and families: Colorado Springs native Javonte Johnson to Colorado State and Atlanta native K.J. Jenkins back east to UNC-Wilmington.
In the meantime, the Lobos have added three Division I transfers in the past month (Iona forward Nelly Junior Joseph, Dayton forward Mustapha Amzil and Fresno State wing Jemarl Baker Jr.) to go along with three incoming freshmen (guard Tru Washington from Arizona, forward Jadyn Toppin from Texas and local Del Norte High School point guard Shane Douma-Sanchez, who will be a walk-on for the Lobos).
TOPPIN HONORED: The Texas Association of Basketball Coaches last week named Toppin, the 6-foot-8, four-star recruit from Oak Cliff (Texas) Faith Family Academy who signed with UNM in November, its Class 4A Texas Player of the Year.
