This past Sunday, former Temple Owl Lavoy Allen worked out for the Philadelphia 76ers for the second time this offseason.

The Sixers obviously liked what they saw. So much so that they selected Allen with the 50th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft on Thursday.

The 6’9″, 225-pound Allen, a graduate of Pennsbury High, was a dominating force in the paint for the Owls during the past four years. During his senior season at Temple, he averaged 11.6 PPG and 8.6 RPG, en route to garnering the Big 5 Player of the Year trophy.

For what it’s worth, Allen is the all-time leading rebounder in Temple history, grabbing 1,147 rebounds during his four-year career.

Last summer, Allen was picked as a member of the USA Select team, and spent the better part of a week scrimmaging against the U.S. Men’s national team, honing his skills against some of the best in the NBA.

Allen got off to a slow start last season, but acquitted himself late in the year when he ripped off a string of seven consecutive double-doubles, including a 17-point, 13-rebound performance against Duke on February 23.

Statistics aside, intangibles are likely what set Allen apart from the rest of the players left on the 76ers board at No. 50. Late in Allen’s junior season, Temple head coach Fran Dunphy said that Allen “might be the smartest player that I’ve ever coached.”

Most draft experts had Allen as a borderline second-round pick at best, with the primary knock on Allen being his motor. For a player of his size, agility and skill set, he should have destroyed most of the competition in the Atlantic 10. However, whether it was due to the deliberately slow Temple offense, or a mere lack of desire, Allen didn’t put up the types of numbers many expected.

Now that he’s the newest member of the Sixers, none of that likely matters anymore to Allen, who’ll get to join an NBA team that’s a mere subway ride from where he played college ball for the past four years. And with the Sixers in desperate need for a quality big man (or three), he’ll have plenty of opportunity to prove the doubters wrong.