MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Junior forward Jeff Allen shoots a free throw before sitting out part of Wednesday's practice with a sprained toe.

If Jeff Allen has found a happy medium with his weight, he could make Virginia Tech basketball fans much happier this season.

The 6-foot-7 Allen weighed 258-260 pounds as a freshman. He wanted to be in better shape, so he improved his conditioning and cut down on fast food the following offseason. He weighed 238-240 pounds as a sophomore last season, when he was leaner and quicker but not the force in the paint that he once was.

Allen averaged 13.7 points and 8.4 rebounds last season. He wasn't always a consistent finisher offensively, as an 0-for-7 outing from the field against Virginia demonstrated.

The power forward vowed to get stronger in the offseason, and now weighs 250 pounds. He might even add 5 more pounds.

"Last year I did get pushed off the block a little," he said Sunday at the ACC's preseason media day in Greensboro, N.C. "This year I think I'm stronger. ... I needed to get bigger, stronger, faster."

Point guard Malcolm Delaney likes the newest version of his teammate.

"He got his weight back," said Delaney, whose team opens the season Nov. 15 against visiting Brown.

"Last year when he lost the weight, he probably couldn't handle a lot of the big guys down low. Freshman year, he was basically using his strength to score.

"I think he got the strength back this year, and he's worked a lot more on his outside game, so it's going to be a tough [job] for any other post player to step out on the perimeter and guard him."

Coach Seth Greenberg said the team needed Allen to "put his weight back on."

"He can carve out some space, which I think is important for us," Greenberg said. "I hope he can hold his spot a little bit more.

"He's worked really hard in the weight room."

Allen said he didn't like how he played at 240 last year. He did like how he played at his new weight at summer camps this year, including LeBron James' camp in Ohio.

He said he will still be able to motor up and down the court.

"We're going to be able to be a running team this year, so conditioning's a big factor," said Allen, who missed practices last week with a bruised knee.

Allen not only gained pounds in the offseason but also gained a daughter. Londyn Waylen Michelle Allen was born in May to Allen's girlfriend back home in Washington, D.C.

Now that he has a child, is he interested in turning pro after this season so he can cash a paycheck?

"I've been trying to get to the NBA for a long time. That's my overall goal," he said. "Having a daughter, I can say that kind of pushed me more to get where I need to be."

Whether he sticks around for his senior year, said Allen, will depend on how he plays this season.

Of course, Allen will need to have a great season to be considered an NBA prospect next spring. But he is the eighth-leading returning scorer and the third-leading returning rebounder in the ACC, so perhaps he is poised to open scouts' eyes. He has been rated the No. 21 power forward in the nation by Lindy's magazine.

"I'm sure there's things I need to work on ... to get there," Allen said of the NBA. "Coach, he told me he can get me there."

It would help if he can avoid the suspensions he has drawn the past two seasons. He was suspended for one game by athletic director Jim Weaver for making an obscene gesture to Maryland fans last season, and was suspended by the ACC for two games as a freshman for bumping an official.

"This year I'm just going to play it cool," he said. "If [something] happens, I'm just going to keep quiet and walk away from it, whereas in the past I reacted.

"I had to become more mature. Thinking about the stuff I did in my past, ... I can't do that this year."