Groves, Allegri sign NBA deals

CHENEY – Two former Eastern Washington University men’s basketball standouts, Tanner Groves and Angelo Allegri, have reportedly signed National Basketball Association free agent contracts.

Groves will be in familiar territory as he chases his pro career with the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. He finished his collegiate career in nearby Norman, at University of Oklahoma after playing at Eastern from 2018-21.

Allegri has an “Exhibit 10” contract with Charlotte and spent three seasons prior to playing at Eastern at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

Details of Groves’ contract are not known but according to Eastern athletics it is the opportunity to tryout in the for the Thunder’s summer league team.

Groves, was the Big Sky Conference MVP in 2020-21. In his final season in Cheney he averaged 17.2 points and eight rebounds.

The Shadle High graduate helped lead the Eagles to a 16-8 overall record and 12-3 in conference play, winning the Big Sky Tournament and a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Eastern narrowly lost to 3-seed Kansas, 93-84 and Groves’ 35 points, five rebounds and three blocks got him national attention.

In addition to regular season conference MVP recognition, Groves was named to the all-conference first team, Big Sky Tournament MVP, NABC All-District Team and three times to the conference all-academic team.

Groves and brother Jacob, transferred to Oklahoma in 2021, where he finished out his NCAA career, playing and starting 66 games over two years for the Sooners, averaging over 10 points and five rebounds in both seasons.

Groves is expected to join the Thunder’s summer league roster and play games from July 3-17 at Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.

Allegri, a guard out of Kansas City, Mo., was an all-around force in his final NCAA season, leading the Eagles to a 23-11 record (16-2 in conference), Big Sky Regular Season Championship and first round win in the National Invitation Tournament.

In his second season at Eastern after transferring from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Allegri averaged 13.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for the Eagles. He earned a berth on the Big Sky’s First Team All-Conference team.

Exhibit 10 contracts are one-year, minimum-salary NBA deals.