Miami announces guard Marcus Allen will miss remainder of season after non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis

Marcus Allen has not played for the past three weeks for Miami. He’ll now suddenly be missing the remainder of this season, though, after Miami revealed that Allen has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Allen and his family released statements on the news, as well as head coach Jai Lucas. The news has put basketball to the side for him at this time, as he has since begun treatments following this cancer diagnosis.

“Marcus has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and has begun chemotherapy treatment this week,” the Allen family said in the release. “We want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during an extremely difficult time for our family. We thank God for his continued Grace, Mercy and Favor. We wait in anticipation for the miracle healing to take place. We are standing on FAITH.”

“Marcus is an incredible person and teammate, and we will do everything we can to support him and his amazing family during this difficult time,” Lucas said in his statement. “Marcus brings toughness and selflessness to our locker room every day and those same qualities will help him defeat this disease. Our entire program will continue to support Marcus in any way that we can as he focuses on his health.”

As part of this release, Miami shared a GoFundMe that has been set up at this time for the Allens. It was also revealed in its description that this medical issue was discovered suddenly, as it came out as a result of routine testing.

“Earlier this month while undergoing routine medical tests, Miami men’s basketball student-athlete Marcus Allen was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and has since begun chemotherapy. As his treatment begins, Marcus and his family are facing the emotional and financial challenges that come with this diagnosis,” it read. “Every contribution, no matter the amount, alleviates the burden and allows the family to fully focus on his recovery. The Allen family is incredibly grateful for the love and support they have received and appreciate your thoughts, prayers and generosity.”

After transferring this offseason from Missouri, Allen appeared in the first eight games of this season off the bench for Miami. He averaged 5.3 points (42.4%, 38.5% 3PT), 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 19.0 minutes per game in those outings, as he was having more opportunities this year as a sophomore with the Hurricanes than he did last year as a freshman for the Tigers.

However, Allen had not played since November 28th. He missed the last four games, in what was the Hurricanes’ final game as part of the ESPN Events Invitational during Feast Week.

Allen, a Miami native, played his high school basketball at Norland. He was the No. 74 overall recruit there as a four-star in the 2024 recruiting cycle. He also rated as the No. 25 SF in the class and as the No. 12 player out of the state of Florida. That’s according to Rivals’ Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Then, after entering his name in this past offseason, Allen was a Top-300 overall player and a Top-50 SF per On3’s Industry Ranking of 2025’s Top Transfer Portal Players. He then returned to his hometown program for their debut season under Lucas, as he committed to the Hurricanes as one of six additions alongside Malik Reneau (Indiana), Tre Donaldson (Auburn, Michigan), Ernest Udeh Jr. (Kansas, TCU), Tru Washington (New Mexico), and Jordyn Kee (Georgia).

This is shocking and unfortunate news as of this morning regarding Allen. That said, Miami will best support him and his family as they can as he begins his battle against his diagnosis.