Louisville turns over a King
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For a while, five-star small forward V.J. King had been indicating that he could make an early decision. On Friday, he followed through when he ended his recruitment by making a verbal commitment to Louisville per his high school coach Glenn Farrello.
A 6-foot-7 small forward at Alexandria (Va.) Paul VI -- where Cardinals assistant Kenny Johnson was an assistant during his high school coaching days -- King currently ranks No. 11 in the class of 2016 and is a major pickup.
Rick Pitino likes wings with length and versatility and that's exactly what he will be getting in King.
First and foremost, King is a natural scorer. With great wing size, King is a smooth perimeter athlete who can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. While he has the size to finish around the rim, King's single biggest weapon is an absolutely deadly pull-up jump shot.
King loves to set defenders up with either one or two hard dribbles before pulling up to swish jumpers from anywhere between 12 and 17 feet. His range extends to the three-point line, but that 12-17 foot area is a kill zone for him and he's as good as anybody in the country when he gets to his spots in the mid range.
Though he isn't a traditional high flyer, King has done a great job of improving his lateral quickness and improving his passing and decision making. He will still need to add strength to his relatively lean 185 pound frame, but he should arrive on campus as a pretty sound and skilled offensive player who is quite polished as a scorer.
King is Louisville's first commitment from the class of 2016.
