LARAMIE – Kentucky's sports culture revolves around basketball and horse racing.
 
Dontaie Allen grew up in the small town of Falmouth, Ky., and the state's hoops spotlight found him at an early age as he developed into a top 100 national recruit. He was named Mr. Basketball Kentucky in 2019.
 
As for getting on a horse? Well, that unexpected ride came this summer when the 6-foot-6 shooting guard transferred to Wyoming and participated in a retreat near Pinedale with other student-athletes in support of the Jae Foundation.
 
"I'm from Kentucky but I'd never ridden a horse," Allen said. "We're on a small (airplane), we're going over these mountains, and I'm in shock. We get down there and we're in these cabins and we're seeing moose. I've never seen a moose in my life. That's Wyoming and I love it."
 
Allen, like most kids from the Bluegrass State, dreamed of playing for the Wildcats. After scoring 3,255 points in high school and receiving offers from a list of power conference programs, he signed with Kentucky.
 
"Looking back on it, I've always been on this journey where I want to just get better and grow," Allen said. "When it came to notoriety and being in the public eye, I wasn't crazed out about that. I just love the game."
 
Allen played in 41 games at Kentucky where he averaged 3.9 points off the bench on rosters loaded with future NBA players. He spent the last two seasons at Western Kentucky, where he averaged 8.7 points.
 
Now the career 37.1% 3-point shooter will have a chance to stop into a lead role for UW head coach Sundance Wicks.
 
"At Western Kentucky he was one of six players in the country that was over 6-foot-6 that shot 40% from 3 last year," Wicks said. "If you give Dontaie over 25, 26 minutes a game he has shown that he has the ability to put the ball in the hole at a high clip. He is very much a rhythm guy, and he needs to run to get his rhythm. I don't know if the last couple stops have allowed him to give him his rhythm as much.
 
"We're going to bank on him being that elite sniper weaponry from outside."
 
Allen led the Hilltoppers in 3-point shooting percentage (40.0%) and scored in double figures 11 times last season, including a career-high 30 points against Florida International. He experienced the NCAA Tournament twice at Kentucky and a third time last March at Western Kentucky.
 
"The experience of being in the NCAA Tournament, that's important knowing what that journey feels like," Wicks said. "Everybody wants to talk about playing in March, but once you get to March you realize how hard it was to get there.
 
"I think his experience in the journey is invaluable for us."
 
While deciding where to play his final college season, Allen had no idea the journey would lead him this far West.
 
It wasn't until late in the recruiting process when UW assistant Pat Monaghan called to see if he would be interested in talking to the Cowboys' new head coach about making a visit.
 
"(Monaghan) goes, I'm going to set you up with our head coach and his name is Sundance Wicks. I was like, interesting name, cool, OK," Allen recalled. "(Wicks) called me and I swear we talked for like an hour. That's the longest I talked to any coach during the process. He's just an energetic, big feel guy and that conversation was everything. At that point I knew I wanted to come out on a visit, and it exceeded expectations."
 
Allen was sold on finishing his collegiate career in the Dome of Doom. His family wasn't as sure about seeing him leave the state of Kentucky for the first time for a new adventure in Laramie.
 
"They kind of looked at me funny. But my mom, my dad, my whole family, they believe in my ability to choose," Allen said. "Once I kind of talked to them and gave them the rundown of why, they were like we trust you, make your dream come true, have a great year."
 
Outside expectations will be low for the Pokes, who have 10 new players and no returning starters from last season.
 
But the new coaching staff used modern analytics and old-school hustle to put together a roster that has athleticism, experience and some impressive raw talent they believe can be untapped at UW.
 
Allen will be an integral part of Wicks' first season resetting a program that faltered after the 2022 NCAA Tournament experience when he was an assistant.
 
"Dontaie's got a lot of ability," Wicks said. "The biggest thing for him now is flipping that switch and getting back to almost high school. He was the man, and he has been in some roles and now we're asking him to step up and be more of a man again. That's different than when you've kind of been put in a corner getting ready to catch and shoot and we're telling you that you have to go make some more plays and you're going to be playing a lot more minutes."
 
The experience in Pinedale with the Jae Foundation to raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention affirmed to Allen that he made the right decision leaving his native Kentucky for one final ride with the Cowboys.
 
"When we first got here about six of us went to the retreat and got to hang out and really get to know each other deeply. When we came back that kept going," Allen said when asked about building team chemistry with so many new faces. "Then we also got to know the other guys. I've been on a lot of teams and seen some teams that were terrible off the court chemistry wise, and you find yourself in clicks. This is not that team. I feel like we have a lot of ability and a lot of potential."
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.