By Dalton Ray–
The highest ranked recruit to come to Louisville since Terry Rozier, VJ King comes to the Ville as a five-star forward. At 6-foot-6, King is an athletic wing that earned McDonald’s All-American status as a high school senior. He is the lone member of the 2016 recruiting class.
It’s common for Rick Pitino to land big recruits, but it’s not common for him to haul in a McDonald’s All-American. Freshmen usually don’t get a lot of playing time in their first season under Pitino and that doesn’t sit well with highly ranked recruits. On top of knowing he wouldn’t get as much playing time, King also held his commitment during the allegations brought on by the NCAA.
“I just trusted in this community, trusted in this program. I wasn’t going to back down from my commitment. I think it showed a sense of loyalty. This was the place for me,” King said. “No matter what was going to happen, I wasn’t going to decommit.”
Holding strong with the Cardinals during an uncertain time earned King a lot of respect from Cardinal fans.
“Pitino always talks about having ‘Louisville men’ on the team and I think King is the kind of guy. He could have gone anywhere and he chose to stay with us, it shows how highly he thinks of the program and Pitino,” junior basketball fan Damon Quire said. “It easy to cheer for a guy like that, you want those type of players wearing your jersey and representing your school.”
King will be fighting for minutes behind sophomore Deng Adel. King said the competition that Adel provides pushes him every day.
“(Adel) is great. He’s a big reason why I’ve gotten so much better and got to this point. He teaches me every day, just giving me a few tips here or there. He’s taken me under his wing and it’s just great going against him in practice,” King said.
King is an aggressive player that enjoys getting to the rim. Not typical with most freshmen, King has the physicality to play with anyone.
“I don’t try to model my game after anybody, I just try to focus on what coach Pitino is teaching me. I’m just trying to find ways to stay on the floor,” King said. “I trust my teammates to help me become a better player and they’ve done a great job of that.”
King also is aware of what will keep him on the floor this season.
“I want to focus on defense. That’ll help me get more minutes. My teammates do a great job of finding each other, so I know I’ll get open shots. But for me, it’s finding different ways to contribute,” King said. “I want to stay on the floor as long as possible and I can do that by rebounding and defending.”
In King’s first official game as a Cardinal, he didn’t take a shy approach. The freshman went to the line four times and knocked down six of his eight free throws.
King has impressed Pitino since his arrival in the summer.
“(King) is doing extremely well. He’s giving Deng (Adel) all he can handle and they’re making each other better. He’s a very talented freshman and he’s a lot further along than I anticipated,” Pitino said.
New to the college life, King has to make adjustments when it comes to academics. The sports administration major said it wasn’t an easy transition at first.
“I’ve gotten used to it at this point, early on it was tough for me. Our schedules are just crazy with workouts, practice and class,” King said. “Balancing time with studying and everything else was definitely hard for me at first but I’ve adjusted.”
King admits he tried to put off some assignments at first but learned his lesson.
“The first two papers I had due I put them off to the last, last minute and I had to do both of them in a two-day span and it was tough on me. I had to pull an all-nighter then we had practice in the morning, so I’ll never do that again. I count it as a learning lesson,” King said.
Photo by Nancy Hanner / The Louisville Cardinal
