Five-star wing thriving
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Even for elite players, moving on to new surroundings can be difficult. Five-star junior wing V.J. King has learned all about that this season as he's settled into a new school.
After playing his sophomore season at Akron (Ohio) St. Vincent St. Mary, King moved to Fairfax (Va.) Paul VI for his junior season. After early struggles, the 6-foot-7 small forward who ranks No. 18 in the class of 2016 has come on strong at events like the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions and the HoopHall Classic.
"It's been awesome," King said of the transition to Paul VI. "I was actually struggling a bit my first nine or 10 games because the competition was so much better and it is so much more physical. My coaches told me to not get frustrated and to stay with it.
"Moving, it's probably one the best decisions I've made because it's going to make me that much better."
A long and rangy wing who is a pull-up jump shot specialist, King has added some strength and has decided that he needs to make better use of his size advantage as much as possible.
"I've just been focusing on getting to the basket more," said King. "When I get some easy buckets first, then I can go out to the mid range and beyond."
On the recruiting front there's no shortage of big-time attention. King mentioned Connecticut, Kansas and Kentucky as three he hears a lot from along with programs like Florida, North Carolina, Louisville, Maryland and N.C. State. According to King, he'd like to try and get to the Carolina schools, Florida and Louisville sometime this spring.
No visit dates have been finalized and King is in no real rush. He says that he'll study the personnel at each school and look for places that have been successful with wings who play his style. Outside of that, he only has some pretty basic timelines set for making his college decision.
"I'll probably be committed by the beginning of next year's season," said King. "I'll have a final list by the beginning of the summer."
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