Cover Stories Allen Crabbe III, The Priceless Knight; Allen Crabbe Number 23 Jersey Retired
January 08, 2015
By Lauren Jones,
Sentinel Contributing Writer
Just one day after playing at the Staples Center in his hometown, Portland Trail Blazer’s shooting guard Allen Crabbe III had his jersey retired at Price High School.
“An honor like this is really hard to put into words,” said Crabbe.
In front of a packed gym with his Gatorade Player of the Year banner already in the raptors, head coach Mike Lynch gave a heartwarming speech about the shooting guard who put Price on the map.
“I always said one day if we’re lucky enough to have a young man make the NBA, I’d like to honor him by retiring his number and jersey” said Lynch. “Well that time has come. This is a two-fold honor — it’s also honoring our program. It took a lot of preparation, pride and faith [for him to make it] and all the principles that go with it.”
The 6’6” Crabbe was one of the most underrated players on the Los Angeles high school basketball scene. He was often overshadowed by his fellow members of the class of 2010 stacked with players like Westchester’s Jordin Mayes and Dwayne Polee, Mater Dei’s Keala King, Tyler Lamb, and Gary Franklin, Solomon Hill out of Fairfax and even Bryce Jones at Taft.
“I just feel like out of high school I didn’t get a lot of credit and I was overlooked sometimes, but I told myself that I couldn’t focus on that,” acknowledged Crabbe. “I just had to focus on me working hard and things I needed to improve. I was just really trying to make it to the NBA.”
It was not until the summer before his senior year, when he was already committed to the University of California at Berkeley, that recruiters started paying attention. Crabbe was dominating the AAU circuit playing with Compton Magic. Recruiters had no choice as Crabbe had gained 30 pounds, sprouted three inches and was perfecting his shot.
“He was a beast,” said Crabbe’s dad, Allen Crabbe Jr. “After that summer league, all the local colleges like USC and UCLA that hadn’t recruited him before were knocking on the door.”
In his senior year of high school, he built on the progress he had made that summer. He racked up earning ESPN California State Player of the Year, John Wooden Award, Gatorade Player of the Year, CIF State Player of the Year, LA Times Player of the Year and led Price to its sixth CIF State Championship.
Price not only gave him a platform to prove himself on the court, but it also cultivated him as a young man.
“The principles and the values that he received here, I know that that’s apart of what makes him a good man and a good person,” said his mom, Cheryl Price. “He’s coming into his own in life and I like the way he’s turning out.”
Crabbe attended Price since preschool, which shares a lot with Los Angeles mega church Crenshaw Christian Center.
“I’ve seen him become a man,” said childhood friend, Cameron Lee. “To get to this stage in life and get to the NBA it takes a lot of responsibility and maturation.”
As the grandson of Price School and Crenshaw Christian Center founders, Apostle Frederick K.C. Price and Dr. Betty Price, Crabbe says there were high expectations to be successful and stay out of trouble.
“I always had eyes on me,” said Crabbe. He made sure that he made his grandparents proud. Growing up in the church, faith has been an instrumental part in his journey to the NBA.
“It’s not something that I really broadcast because a relationship with God is personal in my opinion,” said Crabbe. “But trust God, believe in God. Pray for the things you want and it will happen for you. I feel like just watching those things that you want come to existence. Prayer does work and it’s all I know.”
The second school Crabbe attended was Cal Berkeley where he spent three seasons. He played under then head coach Mike Montgomery alongside his Price teammate Richard Solomon.
“Playing for Coach Montgomery was great because I wanted to play for a coach who knew what it takes to get me to the NBA,” said Crabbe.
After earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year averaging 13.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, he was well on his way to achieving his lifelong dream. In his sophomore year, Crabbe averaged 15.2 points and 5.7 rebounds making All Pac-12 first team. He rounded out his time at Cal with becoming Pac-12 Player of the Year in his junior season.
Crabbe says in retrospect choosing Cal was the best decision for him. In many ways choosing Cal is representative of the type of person and player he is, low-key.
Following his junior year, he quietly became the first player out of his class from Los Angeles to make it to the NBA. He was drafted 31st overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers then immediately traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. For the first time in his basketball career, however, Crabbe was not the star.
“Rough, rough, rough,” Price repeated as she described her son’s rookie season. “You go from being on the floor every night if not the entire game every night to the NBA where I don’t want to say you’re a nobody, but you’re a small fish.”
Like many college standouts, Crabbe got into a rookie season rut that landed him on the Idaho Stampede, a NBA D-League team, for a brief stint.
“That was so difficult,” said Price. “Talk about prayer and scriptures and giving him pep talks and pep texts.” Despite hitting a rough patch his first year, Crabbe applied the same formula that got him to the NBA.
“I was telling him stay ready,” said Crabbe Jr. “Be the first to get to the gym and the last to leave. Even when you start doing well don’t change the script. You did it here in high school, you did it in college.”
Crabbe took his father’s advice. When Portland Trail Blazer’s starting shooting guard C.J. McCollum sustained a finger fracture, Crabbe’s number was called. This past November, Crabbe made his first NBA career start.
“Allen is a sleeper,” said Crabbe Jr. “He’s always been the unsung hero.”
Since then, Crabbe has made appearances in every game. He is finally finding his footing in the NBA. With the continued support of his family from Price and Crenshaw Christian Center all rooting for him coupled with increased minutes on the court it will not be long before Crabbe leaves his mark on the NBA as well.