Prior to Owens: Allen is a 2012 graduate of Detroit Crockett, where he was named Honorable Mention All-Detroit by the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News, as well as Honorable Mention Class B All-State. He played for coach Juan Rickman.

Personal: Markese is the son of Lawrence Allen and Tomiko McDonald. He has two siblings - Quantrinique Johnson and Alante Allen.