Wayne Allen

Wayne was born on May 16,1950, in Campbellsville, KY, the ninth of ten children born to Welby and Creola Allen. Growing up in Knightstown, IN, he was a four-sport athlete at Knightstown High School where he graduated from in 1968. After high school, Wayne earned a basketball scholarship to Odessa Junior College (TX), later transferring and playing at Tarleton State University (TX), where he graduated with a degree in Mathematics Education.

After graduating, he returned home to Indiana to begin coaching high school basketball and teaching math. He was the head coach at Northwestern High School (where he won back-to-back Sectionals in 1981 and 1982) and Muncie Northside (where he won a Sectional in 1984). In 1989, Wayne and his family moved to Southwestern Indiana where he accepted a head coaching position at Boonville High School. In 2002, Wayne became the Head Coach for the Castle Lady Knights basketball team. In his four seasons at the helm, he won four Sectionals, two Regionals, a Semi-State, and ultimately leading the Lady Knights to a State Championship in 2006. He was incredibly proud of his State Championship Lady Knights, greeting everyone he knew with an enthusiastic fist bump and his infamous words, “State Champs.” He taught math at Castle High School until he retired from teaching in 2012. Along the way, Wayne also served as a tennis coach for several years. He formed lifelong relationships with his players and students, and they were a source of great pride and joy in his life.

Additionally, Wayne worked several summers at the prestigious Five Star Basketball Camp in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he coached several future NBA players and alongside legendary college coaches. He also traveled overseas and worked basketball camps in Africa as an ambassador to the United States. He was inducted into the Greater Evansville Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. In 2018, he was honored as an inductee in the Northwestern High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Wayne’s greatest accomplishments were off the court – the three children and thirteen grandchildren he shared with his late wife, Marilynn. He was a loving and devoted father to Jennifer, Michael, and Kristin. He was an adoring grandfather, spending time with his grandchildren playing games, helping with math homework, teaching them to drive, and attending their games and performances. He was incredibly proud of each of them and never missed an opportunity to tell them he loved them. He also loved to play golf, listen to music, and share stories and laughter with his family and friends. Wayne believed in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, and we have no doubt that he is celebrating in heaven today.

Wayne is survived by his three children, Jennifer Thompson (Aaron), Michael Allen (Kim), and Kristin Kilgour (Brian); thirteen grandchildren, (Chase Wampler, Andrew Thompson, Luke Wampler, Ellie Wampler, Isaac Allen, Cooper Kilgour, Olivia Thompson, Ezra Allen, Leah Kilgour, Eldana Allen, Collin Kilgour, Crew Kilgour, & Jude Allen); brothers, Charles Allen (PJ) and Joseph Allen (Marti), and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his wife Marilynn; parents, Welby and Creola Allen; brothers, Cecil and Carlton, and sisters, Ruth, Maxine, Mary, Georgia, and Veronica.

Services will be held Friday, April 24, 2026, at Christian Fellowship Church, 4100 Millersburg Rd., Evansville, IN. Visitation will be held from 2:00-5:00 PM CST with a Celebration of Life Service beginning at 5:00 PM CST.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Wayne’s honor to The Hoosier Gym, where he and his brothers played high school basketball.

Online at link below: https://www.thehoosiergym.com/store/p139/%22Friends_Of_The_Hoosier_Gym%22_Donation.html

Via mail at:

Friends of The Hoosier Gym, In Memory of Wayne Allen, 355 N. Washington St., Knightstown, IN 46148.

Condolences may be made online at

www.AlexanderNewburghChapel.com