Charel Allen

Charel Allen (born July 23, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. A guard, she played high school basketball at Monessen High School, where she was a two-time Pennsylvania Class A Player of the Year and finished her high school career as the fifth-leading scorer in state history. She played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2004 to 2008 and was a two-time first-team All-Big East Conference honoree. She was the first player in team history to record college career totals of 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 200 steals.

Allen was selected by the Sacramento Monarchs of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the third round of the 2008 WNBA draft. She played in six regular season games and two playoff games for the Monarchs during the 2008 season. She later played professionally overseas in Turkey, Israel, and Bulgaria from 2008 to 2017. She was a five-time Bulgarian Cup champion. After her playing career, Allen has spent time as an assistant women's basketball coach for the Cal State Fullerton Titans and Notre Dame.

Early life Charel Allen was born on July 23, 1986, in Monessen, Pennsylvania. She played high school basketball at Monessen High School in Monessen, Pennsylvania. Her freshman year, she scored a Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) playoff record 39 points in the Class A title game. She recorded 26.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 5.1 steals and 5.4 assists per game her senior year, helping the team to a 29–2 record and a Class A state championship. Allen also averaged 29.3 points per game in eight postseason games that season. Overall, she recorded 26.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, 6.4 steals and 5.0 assists per game in high school, being named Associated Press (AP) Pennsylvania Class A Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004, AP first-team all-state in 2002, 2003, and 2004, and Street & Smith's honorable mention All-American in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. The team had a 100–19 record during her four years at Monessen High. She was also an AAU 16-and-under All-American in 2003. The "Charel Allen Character Scholarship" was later created, which is given to a Monessen High senior of Allen's choosing.

College career Allen played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2004 to 2008. She played in 33 games during her freshman season in 2004–05, averaging 7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, garnering Big East Conference All-Freshman recognition. She appeared in 34 games her senior year in 2007–08, averaging 15.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, garnering first-team All-Big East, AP honorable mention All-American, and WBCA honorable mention All-American recognition.

Allen was the first player in team history to record career totals of 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 200 steals. She was also a team captain during her final two seasons at Notre Dame.

Professional career Allen was selected by the Sacramento Monarchs in the third round, with the 43rd overall pick, of the 2008 WNBA draft. She played in six games for the Monarchs in 2008, averaging 2.7 points and 1.0 rebounds per game. She also played three minutes total during two playoff games, committing one turnover and one foul. She was waived by the Monarchs on June 4, 2009, before the start of the 2009 WNBA season. She was waived on May 13, 2010. In 2013–14, she averaged 18.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.2 steals per game, finishing second in the league in scoring while earning first-team all-league and league Player of the Year honors. In 2016, Montana 2003 won both the league title and the Bulgarian Cup while Allen garnered first-team all-league and league Guard of the Year recognition. In 2017, she helped the team win the regular season title and earned first-team all-league honors for the second consecutive season.

Coaching career Allen started working as a skill development trainer in 2009. In 2011, she founded The Charel Allen Basketball Camp and Highlight Game in Pennsylvania. She was an assistant coach at Monessen Middle School during the 2013–14 season. While in Bulgaria, she was a player-coach in 2016 and 2017.

Allen was an assistant coach for the Cal State Fullerton Titans women's basketball team from the 2017–18 season to the 2021–22 season. She was also the team's associate head coach during the final season. She assisted with recruiting during her time at Cal State Fullerton as well.

In July 2022, Allen returned to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team as an assistant coach.