Virginia Union RB Curtis Allen a worthy candidate as Division II’s top player

As the head coach of the leading rusher in NCAA Division II football, Virginia Union’s Alvin Parker admits to his bias leading up to Friday’s announcement of the Harlon Hill Award.

But Parker’s partisanship aside, when he looks at what the trophy stands for there’s no doubt his guy — Curtis Allen — should be named the winner.

“It’s for the best player in Division II football,” Parker said this week. “The numbers he delivered on a weekly basis this season, he made the case. Flat and simple.”

The numbers posted this season by Allen, his first year as a featured back: 2,409 rushing yards, 204.08 all-purpose yards per game, 198.8 rushing yards per game, and 30 rushing touchdowns.

Allen led the nation in each of those categories, while leading Virginia Union to the Division II playoffs.

That across-the-board dominance is a reason Allen has a good chance to win the Harlon Hill Award, the Division II version of the Heisman Trophy. The Harlon Hill Award trophy, first awarded in 1986, has never gone to an HBCU player.

“I didn’t know I had a chance to become the first HBCU winner because I really thought Jada Byers had won it before,” said Allen of his former teammate, who was a finalist for the award in 2022 and 2024. “It’s really a blessing because not too many people get this opportunity, and I’m just glad to get some recognition for the season I had.”

With the Harlon Hill Award given to a quarterback each year since 2013, recent history doesn’t favor Allen. But if the Division II sports information directors vote for this year’s winner strictly by the numbers … well, the numbers don’t lie.

“When Jada Byers was up for the award a few times he had outstanding numbers, but there were some quarterbacks up for the award who had eye-popping numbers as well,” Parker said. “We lost a lot of firepower from the previous year, and Curtis put a team on his back and delivered in a way I’ve never seen. This year he’s the best college football player at our level.”

Allen rushed for 369 yards against Bluefield State (W. Va.) on Nov. 1, which broke the school record of 324 yards set by Byers the previous year. After registering just two games over 100 rushing yards in his first three seasons, Allen rushed for more than 100 yards in each of his 12 games this season and had four games over 200 yards.

The Harlon Hill Award will be announced Friday afternoon. Allen, who will be watching from his mother’s house, is hopeful his season will be properly recognized.

“I understand it’s been a quarterback award; that’s the hardest position to play,” Allen said. “I just feel like nobody had a dominating season like me. And if that’s how people look at it, I’m confident I’m the right choice.”

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