Terrence Allen has been hired as the girls' basketball coach at East Ridge High School. He most recently taught at Hamilton High in Memphis.

"Coach Allen will be demanding but fair in the classroom, and I truly believe he will be the same as the coach," East Ridge principal Zac Brown said. "He will immediately make a difference for our program by bringing discipline and an emphasis on fundamentals."

Brown noted that Allen will be coaching only girls' basketball.

Previous stops for Allen included Colorado Springs, Colo., and Michigan City, Ind. One of his former players just graduated from Eastern Illinois, and another will be a senior at Western Kentucky.

Although he was teaching this past year at Hamilton, Allen spent the previous year working at a prison as an instructional supervisor.

He joined the Air Force straight out of high school and became a firefighter for 10 years while working on his college degree.

"I coached in Chicago as a head coach or assistant for 13 years," he said.

Out of coaching for the past two seasons, Allen said he knew that part of his life wasn't over.

"I had the coaching bug still. I wanted to stay in Tennessee, and I applied when the job was advertised," he said.

Allen, who has a head coaching record of 120-59, already has met most of East Ridge's returning players and will be in town for a camp June 3-7. He'll begin his duties as a history teacher and coach in August.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765.