Southern U. Football Player Killed

Photo by U Sports Information Office James Allen, sophomore offensive lineman was killed outside the Varsity Bar near LSU.

Southern University football player James Allen was shot to death after an altercation in front of a nightclub near the north gates of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

A report from the East Baton Rouge Coroner’s office said that Allen, 23, a 6-foot-2, 305-pound sophomore offensive guard, died of brain trauma Jan. 24. He was shot once in his head after an altercation with an unidentified male in front of The Varsity nightclub.

According to unofficial witness reports, Allen was arguing with another person outside of Raisin' Canes, a fast food restaurant down the block from The Varsity. After leaving that location, he was confronted again before entering the club. He was killed outside. On the day of the shooting, the Baton Rouge Police Department said it had very few leads.

"He was an unique individual who had some issues when he first arrived, but he was turning the corner . . . trying to turn his life around," said the Jaguars’ head football coach, Pete Richardson. "We had planned on him being an intricate part of our program. He will be sorely missed."

The New Orleans native, a graduate of Alcee Fortier High School there, had no major discipline problems while at Southern, but Richardson acknowledged that when Allen arrived, he didn’t take things seriously. Some members of the team remember him as "a regular comedian" and someone who always joked around.

"He was always jovial . . . He didn’t take academics or athletics seriously," said Richardson. "But then he begin to mature as an individual and I saw a transformation. His grades improved drastically, and his performance" did as well.

Richardson said that he had spoken with Allen’s aunt, but had yet to speak with his mother. In the previous week, Richardson not only lost Allen, but his own brother in Ohio.

On Friday, members of the football team met with their head coach and other personnel of the athletic department. Alysius Allen, a licensed professional counselor, and ValaRay Irvin, director of the Southern University Counseling Center, were on hand to assist those affected.

"What we know right now is that they (the players) are experiencing shock and disbelief," said Irvin. "We were there to get together with them collectively or individually . . . . because it so ingrained in us that dealing with tragedy is not a good thing.”

The athletes were not the only ones grieving.

"It’s sad that something this tragic had to happen," said Sherell McCray, a junior electrical engineering major from Baton Rouge. "Especially here at Southern. We all are family here, and we have just lost another member."

This is the second violent death of a Southern University athlete in four years. During Southern’s 1999 Homecoming, Robert Stillman Jr., a member of the golf team, was shot to death in his dorm room. Another Southern student, Derrick Claville, was convicted of killing him and was sentenced to life in prison in April of last year.

"We just can’t go on killing each other," said M.R. Harris, a graduate student from Memphis. "These are our family, our brothers, and regardless if they are athletes or not, seeing them die is just not right.’

Nikki G. Bannister is a student at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., and sports editor of the Southern Digest.