‘Enjoy every moment’: How Allen Flanigan got his bounce back

AUBURN, Ala. – When Allen Flanigan gets a head of steam, it’s best to get out of the way.

On Wednesday night against Ole Miss, Flanigan was dribbling the ball up the court in transition. He hesitated briefly at the 3-point line and then put his head down and took off toward the basket where he elevated and threw down one of his patented left-handed slams.

It was violent. It was angry. It was classic Al.

“I just thought he was going to lay the ball up,” teammate Zep Jasper said. “I saw him go outside and just rear back with his left hand, and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ I didn’t know he was going to do that. Somebody must have made him mad. He only does that when somebody makes him mad.”

“That feeling when I do get a chance to throw one down, it’s like a roller coaster for me,” Flanigan said. “It boosts my adrenaline. Any time I have the chance to showcase my athleticism, it’s tremendous."

Flanigan does not take that feeling for granted. He went nearly an entire calendar year without experiencing it. In August 2022, prior to his junior season at Auburn, he injured his Achilles in a freak accident and was forced to have surgery. Immediately, doubt started to creep in. Will my leg ever be the same? Will I be able to explode off the floor and do the things I’m used to doing?

Not knowing the answers to those questions, Flanigan put his head down and went to work. He started rehab. He was in the gym getting shots up in a chair before he could walk. He went from the chair to walking with a boot to finally putting a regular shoe on. From there, he started jogging, then sprinting, and the final step before he was cleared – he started jumping again. 

With him every step of the way was his father, Auburn assistant coach Wes Flanigan, who went through a similar setback when he was a player at Auburn. As a junior, Wes found out he had bone cancer. Like Allen, basketball was taken away from Wes. Just like that.

“The good thing about the whole scenario (with Allen) is that I had my situation to kind of draw from,” Wes said. “I knew it was going to be a struggle. He didn’t realize that. He was just like me. He thought that once he came back, the light was going to be switched back on, and he was going to be the same Allen Flanigan he was as a sophomore. I knew better than that.”

Allen Flanigan made his 2021-22 debut on Dec. 22, 2021, against Murray State, nearly four months after he suffered the injury, but he wasn’t 100 percent.

Over the next two months, Auburn would rise to No. 1 in the polls for the first time in program history behind guys like Jabari Smith, Walker Kessler and Wendell Green Jr. Flanigan, still fighting pain in his leg, saw his role diminish from what it was the year before.

“It was definitely a bittersweet feeling knowing that I wasn’t one of the guys coming off the injury,” he said. “Seeing guys like Jabari, Walker and Wendell step up and be able to deliver, it was really eye-opening for me just knowing I didn’t have to do what I did the year before. I soaked into that role and tried to do what I could to help the team.”

That team, Flanigan included, won a ring as the SEC regular season champion.

For Flanigan, this season has been even more meaningful because he’s got his bounce back. In August, one full year after the injury, he was exploding off the floor, getting by guys in practice, knocking down shots – he felt like his old self again.

It’s translated to the court. Through the first 15 SEC games, Flanigan is averaging 10.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. It might not be the same numbers he put up two years before the injury, but that has more to do with this team and his role on it.

“For me this year, I’m one of those guys when you insert me into the game, I’m just trying to find ways to win,” Flanigan said. “I’m not really worried about numbers or anything. I just want to do whatever the team needs. If we need it more on the boards that night, I’m rebounding and blocking out and making defensive plays. If they need me to score, I can score the ball, too. It’s really just picking up the pieces.”

“We got through that moment (last year), and I think my child learned a lot from that situation moving forward,” Wes Flanigan said. “For me, as a father, to see the growth and to see the maturation process. To see him out there being a better teammate, trying to lead from a vocal standpoint – which is really not Allen’s characteristic – to see him being patient and not get as frustrated as maybe he did last year at times, you can see that whole scenario last year and what he went through has done a lot of things for him.

“I think as he moves forward with his career, whether it be pro or whatever he decides to do long term in life, he’ll be able to draw from these situations he’s learned here at Auburn.”

A senior this year, Allen Flanigan’s Auburn journey is nearing the end. He started some games as a freshman and then burst onto the scene as a sophomore where he led the team in scoring. Primed for another big season his junior year, Flanigan’s trajectory changed with the injury. He missed the first half of the season and was never fully healthy.

Flanigan is healthy now and playing some of the best basketball he’s played while at Auburn. He also has a new perspective on life because of what he went through.

“I cherish life more,” Flanigan said. “I enjoy every moment, just knowing that one day basketball can be taken from you. The thing you’ve done all your life, worked for, and the thing you love the most – it can be gone in a split second.

“I want the Auburn Family to remember me as a kid who came in hard-nosed. He put the work in, he gave effort and energy night in and night out. A guy who was confident. He fought his battles, played through when he wasn’t feeling the best, never gave up. I was a guy who played with heart.”