Big East, Pac-10 Schools Court Ex-Duke Player Taylor King

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Big East, Pac-10 Schools Court Ex-Duke Player Taylor King

Duke's Taylor King celebrates after a play vs. Boston College in Durham on February 9, 2008.

Apr 11, 2008

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The recruiting process is beginning all over again for Taylor King. After spending his freshman season at Duke, the 6-foot-7 sharpshooter will be transferring at the conclusion of the spring semester.

Gary McKnight, who was King’s head coach at Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei High School, indicated several schools have already inquired about King’s services.

“Three Big East schools are courting him heavily,” McKnight said. “Five Pac-10 schools have contacted me.”

Syracuse and Villanova are believed to be two of the three Big East schools in the hunt for King. McKnight has sent a couple of former prep players across the country to play for the Orange.

One of those former players just happens to be current assistant coach Mike Hopkins. Hopkins has been on staff at Syracuse for the past 12 seasons. He began his college playing career under coach Jim Boeheim in 1989.

Hopkins was on McKnight’s 1987 California state championship team at Mater Dei.

According to McKnight, a lack of playing time and a logjam of returning players factored into King’s decision to leave Durham after just one season.

King played 9.7 minutes for the Blue Devils this year. However, his minutes dwindled once the ACC season began. King registered 7.1 minutes per-game during the conference slate. That number shrank to just 5.3 minutes per-game in Duke’s last 16 contests.

“Time wasn’t coming his way,” McKnight said. “I think they’ve got eight of their top nine coming back.”

The Blue Devils are expected lose only senior Demarcus Nelson.

Point guards Greg Paulus and Nolan Smith will be back. Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson are two other perimeter players who will be returning.

Post-players Kyle Singler, David McClure, Lance Thomas, and Brian Zoubek are also expected to play big roles on Duke’s 2008-09 team. And Martynas Pocius will be coming off of ankle surgery that forced him to miss the majority of the 2007-08 campaign.

Duke also has Elliot Williams signed for next season, too. Williams, a 6-foot-4 guard, is rated as the 16th best player in the Class of 2008, according to Rivals.com

As for when King will make a decision about his future, McKnight says the process will begin soon.

“He’ll take some visits toward the end of the month,” said McKnight. “He was a McDonald’s All-American and showed in the pre-season he could put the ball in the basket.”

NCAA transfer rules stipulate that King have to sit-out the 2008-09 season. However, for some school, the three years of eligibility King brings with him will be worth the wait.

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