UPDATED 6/2: Joey King a Gopher, on full scholarship!

Donate To GopherHole

From this LNH article (some formatting may be lost on the copy below):

Joey King is unique in that he’s a 6’9″ kid with good shooting ability, especially from behind the 3-point line. We like what he can add on the offensive side of the ball and wouldn’t see it as a reach if Minnesota brought him into the program as a scholarship player. Adding King as a walk-on would be a bit of a coup.

At the same time we don’t believe King adds what the Gophers need most in 2013-14: strong rebounding and interior defense.

Miscellaneous Comments, Thoughts & Analysis on King:

  • Averaged 19.0 minutes, 6.9 points and 2.9 rebounds.
  • Don’t be fooled by his 42.8% FG. More than half of his FGA were 3FGA.
  • Finished the season with a good eFG% of 52.3%.
  • Made 34.7% of his 3FGA (33/95). Prior to the final 6 games of the year his 3FG% was 40.2%.
  • (33 3FGM would have been third on the Gophers in 2012-13; Dre=81, Austin=53)
  • Made 52.6% of his 2FG despite taking a lot of jump shots. Mid-range shooting was strong.
  • Has a fairly solid build, but not a contact guy.
  • DR% was only 13.5%, but he played with strong DR teammates.
  • His offensive rebounding ceiling appears low.
  • Turnovers weren’t awful and should improve.
  • Fouled the opposition often; again an area that projects to improve with experience.
  • Vs. Top 100 RPI opponents: 53.8% eFG, 4% OR, 7% Assist, 95 ORtg (per RealGM.com)
  • Vs. Non-Top 100 RPI opp: 50.0% eFG, 8% OR, 14% Assist 110 ORtg (per RealGM.com)


Could King find a role as a guy that chips in with 40+ 3-pointers? With his size, can he improve his rebounding and defense? Certainly. He’s got some limitations, but King’s combination of size and shooting ability are worth some consideration.
 

stretch 4

[QUOTE/}Could King find a role as a guy that chips in with 40+ 3-pointers? With his size, can he improve his rebounding and defense? Certainly. He’s got some limitations, but King’s combination of size and shooting ability are worth some consideration.[/QUOTE]

King sounds like he could be a stretch 4 (p.fowards who can hit 3's) like so many successful teams in the big ten have. He could play the 4 with a really good 5 next to him to clean the boards and play physical (Mbakwe, Payne, etc). Ideally he comes as a walk on with the incentive to play his way into a scholarship. With our lack of shooters it would be nice to have a 6'9" zone buster for the Northwestern's and anyone else who would play zone against us.
 

march madness said:
[QUOTE/}Could King find a role as a guy that chips in with 40+ 3-pointers? With his size, can he improve his rebounding and defense? Certainly. He’s got some limitations, but King’s combination of size and shooting ability are worth some consideration.
Click to expand...

King sounds like he could be a stretch 4 (p.fowards who can hit 3's) like so many successful teams in the big ten have. He could play the 4 with a really good 5 next to him to clean the boards and play physical (Mbakwe, Payne, etc). Ideally he comes as a walk on with the incentive to play his way into a scholarship. With our lack of shooters it would be nice to have a 6'9" zone buster for the Northwestern's and anyone else who would play zone against us.[/QUOTE]

Think Murphy with Florida last year. Could see King being similar for MN. IMO he fits the offense perfectly.

And tweet from Marcus:

PiPress Gophers Now @GophersNow
@NadineBabu Gives #Gophers even more incentive to bring in Joey King once he's released from his scholarship at Drake. Tubby missed on him.
 

march madness said:
King sounds like he could be a stretch 4 (p.fowards who can hit 3's) like so many successful teams in the big ten have. He could play the 4 with a really good 5 next to him to clean the boards and play physical (Mbakwe, Payne, etc). Ideally he comes as a walk on with the incentive to play his way into a scholarship. With our lack of shooters it would be nice to have a 6'9" zone buster for the Northwestern's and anyone else who would play zone against us.
Click to expand...
King on Payne is a scary matchup?!?!
 



PiPress Gophers Now @GophersNow
@NadineBabu Gives #Gophers even more incentive to bring in Joey King once he's released from his scholarship at Drake. Tubby missed on him.[/QUOTE]

I just got off the phone with Orlando. He said he wanted Wally and Buggs more than King.
 

Joey looked good at lifetime in Eagan tonight. He was having fun flying around anyways. Sounds like he's going to take some visits and decide sometime in June where he wants to go.
 

defintily meant king playing with a physical post like payne not guarding him.

Winasota Gopher said:
King on Payne is a scary matchup?!?!
Click to expand...

King isnt a physical post player, so I was just stating you would need to pair him with a center who is and who can rebound such as Trevor and Payne. Nix is graduating, so Payne will be playing the 5 quite a bit.
 



I have seen Joey King played 8+ times and he is easily a scholarship player for the Gophs. Now if you think a scholarship player means a starter who gives you 28 minutes a game maybe this is not him but I would love to have him come off the bench and play the 4 position for us.

Assuming Pitino style of play is full court pressure and traps along with running (and gunning look at Malik Smiths #'s) I would have to believe having a 4 man who can run and shoot would fit in extremely well especially for 15 minutes a game.

We can talk all day about him not liking contact but take a look at the Gophers squad in general....Austin Hollins doesnt do well with contact, Buggs weighs 200 pounds, Eliasion gets pushed around so no matter who is on the court next year we are going to be soft. We do not have an Ingram coming off the bench.

With King having 3 years left of eligibility and already having a successful freshman year under his belt he most likely can only get better. It would be dumb to pass on him.

Of course this is all my opinion but I really think we can use him.
 

bleedgold said:
I have seen Joey King played 8+ times and he is easily a scholarship player for the Gophs. Now if you think a scholarship player means a starter who gives you 28 minutes a game maybe this is not him but I would love to have him come off the bench and play the 4 position for us.

Assuming Pitino style of play is full court pressure and traps along with running (and gunning look at Malik Smiths #'s) I would have to believe having a 4 man who can run and shoot would fit in extremely well especially for 15 minutes a game.

We can talk all day about him not liking contact but take a look at the Gophers squad in general....Austin Hollins doesnt do well with contact, Buggs weighs 200 pounds, Eliasion gets pushed around so no matter who is on the court next year we are going to be soft. We do not have an Ingram coming off the bench.

With King having 3 years left of eligibility and already having a successful freshman year under his belt he most likely can only get better. It would be dumb to pass on him.

Of course this is all my opinion but I really think we can use him.
Click to expand...

Feel the exact same way. Coleman's transfer, and Smith and Buckles being 1 year players makes me feel this way even more strongly. We have four scholarships for 2014 and 2015. No need to bank that third one now at all.

I could see taking Tarik Black if he committed, but that seems to be a long shot right now.

IMO, use the last two scholarships on Buckles and King and call it a day.

The only issue I see is we leave ourselves vulnerable at center. EE and Mo. Mo being a pretty big question mark. Not sure what centers outside of Black are really available though unfortunately. May just see a lot of small ball, could be fun.
 

scher215 said:
Feel the exact same way. Coleman's transfer, and Smith and Buckles being 1 year players makes me feel this way even more strongly. We have four scholarships for 2014 and 2015. No need to bank that third one now at all.

I could see taking Tarik Black if he committed, but that seems to be a long shot right now.

IMO, use the last two scholarships on Buckles and King and call it a day.

The only issue I see is we leave ourselves vulnerable at center. EE and Mo. Mo being a pretty big question mark. Not sure what centers outside of Black are really available though unfortunately. May just see a lot of small ball, could be fun.
Click to expand...

I agree Buckles and King should be the last two players to recieve a scholarship thist year. D1 experience is tough to beat. Especially when you compare them to the usual caliber of spring recruits.
 

If the reason for the transfer is for family medical issues so he can be close to home. How many schools are much closer then Drake? You mean the NCCA will give him a waiver to say be an hour closer to home. Which would be the Iowa schools. I suppose Wisconsin would be in the same range. Seems to me the only school where the transfer would seem legit would be to Minnesota.
I would think Pitino has been watching his game films and have made up his mind on him by now. I would think unless Oto transfers they don't take him.
 



Blackhammer said:
If the reason for the transfer is for family medical issues so he can be close to home. How many schools are much closer then Drake?
Click to expand...

I did the math...

SDSU is 10 miles closer.
ISU is 25 miles closer.
UNI is 25 miles closer.

Thats it. And I don't really see 25 miles making that much of a difference.
 

Blackhammer said:
If the reason for the transfer is for family medical issues so he can be close to home. How many schools are much closer then Drake? You mean the NCCA will give him a waiver to say be an hour closer to home. Which would be the Iowa schools. I suppose Wisconsin would be in the same range. Seems to me the only school where the transfer would seem legit would be to Minnesota.
I would think Pitino has been watching his game films and have made up his mind on him by now. I would think unless Oto transfers they don't take him.
Click to expand...

Posted this in another thread:

As someone sort of familiar with the situation, and this is the most I will say about it, I can promise you he will not walk on anywhere under any circumstance. Regardless if there is an opportunity to earn a scholarship later. While it would be nice for him to play at home and right away, it is not enough for him to walk on unfortunately due to financial reasons. Just the reality of the situation, even if it means sitting out for a year.
 

scher215 said:
Posted this in another thread:

As someone sort of familiar with the situation, and this is the most I will say about it, I can promise you he will not walk on anywhere under any circumstance. Regardless if there is an opportunity to earn a scholarship later. While it would be nice for him to play at home and right away, it is not enough for him to walk on unfortunately due to financial reasons. Just the reality of the situation, even if it means sitting out for a year.
Click to expand...

Do you think he'd be willing to go down to Division II?
 

joshvanklomp said:
Do you think he'd be willing to go down to Division II?
Click to expand...

I know he has interest from some D1 schools, some very good options as well, not sure which have "offered" if you will, but will likely go that route (D1). I don't see him going D2. The issue at Drake wouldn't have been playing time or being the "man". He was slated to be a starter and their best player most likely next year.

He will be at a D1 school next year, potentially a high major- possibly MN, and under scholarship. I don't see him going D2 and know he will not walk on anywhere.

That's about all I really want to say about it though.

He is a very good player and I think he will be successful wherever he goes, my hope is he ends up at Minnesota. But there are certainly a lot of factors with the decision for him to weigh.
 

@ameliarayno: Joey King's former HS coach, Mark Gerber tells me he's been in contact w/ #Gophers' staff, but that MN wants to wait on other recruits first

Go Gophers!!
 


point guard 10 said:
Verbal Commits just reported
Recent Activity
5/21/2013 - 2012 PF Joey King (6-9, 219, 2★) will be competing on the team this season as a non-scholarship player. - Per Jon Volker, Gold & Gopher
http://verbalcommits.com/schools/minnesota
Click to expand...

Can anyone confirm this? The fact that it is date over a week ago (and his HS coach said he was waiting just yesterday) makes me a bit leery.
 

eker0016 said:
Can anyone confirm this? The fact that it is date over a week ago (and his HS coach said he was waiting just yesterday) makes me a bit leery.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm not sure if that report is believable. Unless he has decided to play for the U for sure, and the Gophers are waiting on other recruits to decide if they are giving him a scholarship or not?
 

jaymil said:
Yeah I'm not sure if that report is believable. Unless he has decided to play for the U for sure, and the Gophers are waiting on other recruits to decide if they are giving him a scholarship or not?
Click to expand...

This could be it. Hopefully it's true, I'm curious to see how good of a shooter he actually is. If he can hit the 3 with consistency he could be an interesting weapon at 6'8 or 6'9.
 


eker0016 said:
Can anyone confirm this? The fact that it is date over a week ago (and his HS coach said he was waiting just yesterday) makes me a bit leery.
Click to expand...

Perhaps he has agreed to come to Minnesota as a walk on with the agreement being that he gets a scholarship for the coming year if one remains open (after Pitino hears from other pending recruits).

Oops -Jaymil beat me to this.
 

This is the only thing "Verbal Commits" is going off of:

It was also learned this past weekend that Joey King was offered a walk-on spot with the team. King could earn a scholarship after the upcoming season.
Click to expand...

There is no new news.
 

BleedGopher said:
@ameliarayno: Joey King's former HS coach, Mark Gerber tells me he's been in contact w/ #Gophers' staff, but that MN wants to wait on other recruits first
Click to expand...

I.e., U coaches waiting to see if the Rakeem Buckles transfer comes through, which would take 1 of the 2 scholarships still left.

Also have the 2 other forwards whose visits were rescheduled to June (the Rutgers soph transfer and Nkosi Ali). Not convinced I'd take those 2 over King if that's what it came down to, but our coaches may feel differently.
 

Chris Monter tweets:

@collegebbnews: Contrary to reports elsewhere, Joey King is not going to walk-on at Minnesota. King, who averaged 6.9 points and 2.9 rebounds as a freshman

@collegebbnews: at Drake, has received plenty of interest after deciding to transfer after a head coaching change. Minnesota is a possibility, but King is

@collegebbnews: only looking to transfer to a school where he would be in scholarship. Minnesota is still awaiting word on several prospects who have offers

Go Gophers!!
 

I spoke to Dan Haugh, King's AAU coach and he told me that King is not going to walk-on at Minnesota. King, who averaged 6.9 points and 2.9 rebounds as a freshman, at Drake, has received plenty of interest after deciding to transfer after a head coaching change. Minnesota is a possibility, but King is only looking to transfer to a school where he would be in scholarship. Minnesota is still awaiting word on several prospects who have offers. King will make some visits in early June.

Chris Monter
 

And this is as it should be. Joey King would be our best walk-on since Dave Winfield, and far better than Tony Dungy.
 

howieramone said:
And this is as it should be. Joey King would be our best walk-on since Dave Winfield, and far better than Tony Dungy.
Click to expand...

If King's production anywhere near matched that of what Dusty Rychart gave us, I think Gopher fans would be pleased.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom