James Byars Allen Jr.[1] (born June 15, 1971) is an American college basketball coach.

Born in El Paso, Texas, Allen lived in West Point, New York for much of his childhood; his father was a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who served in the U.S. Army for 20 years.

[4][5] In eleventh grade, he moved to Roanoke, Virginia, where he graduated from Northside High School in 1989.

[5] After graduation, Allen got his coaching start at his alma mater, where he stayed for three seasons before joining Don DeVoe's staff at Navy, where he was part of two Patriot League title squads in 1997 and 1998.

From 2002 to 2004, Allen was an assistant at Wofford, before landing his first head coaching job at Averett, where he took over a 0–25 team to lead it to four NCAA Tournament appearances and 97–70 overall record in six seasons, as well as being named a USA South Athletic Conference Coach of the year in 2005, 2007, and 2008.