Ex-Mater Dei star King bids adieu to Duke ... Could USC be next stop?

Former Mater Dei basketball standout Taylor King has decided to leave Duke after his freshman season.

Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight confirmed Monday night that King has asked for and received his release from the Durham, N.C., university.

King had orginaillay committed to UCLA when he was an incoming freshman at Mater Dei but had a change of heart.

King's father, Steve, said his son will seek to transfer to a high-profile program that better fits his offensive strengths. He averaged 5.5 points and played in 34 games for Duke.

USC could be a possibility because the Trojans actively recruited him out of high school. Gonzaga and Villanova also pursued King.

-- Eric Sondheimer

-- Image from www.bluedevilhoops.com

Comments

[BG]

Im not surprised i thought a couple of weeks ago he might leave because of the talent that he's got and the little amount of time he played this may be a key lost of duke in the future but it dosent bother me, one less good duke player to worry about. $Go Carolina All day$ But back on the subject at hand in my opinion he can go toe to toe with Kyle Singler any day and can do more

[NM]

Let him go..."King's father, Steve, said his son will seek to transfer to a high-profile program that better fits his offensive strengths. He averaged 5.5 points and played in 34 games for Duke."

His only offensive ability is to fire up 3's and he was horrible at it!!! There are very few teams who utilize the 3pt shot more than Duke, and if he couldn't fit in there than good luck somewhere else, lol...

[Editor Bob]

Cal State Fullerton shoots lots of threes and lasted in the Big Dance this year almost as long as Duke. Plus, he could commute. Just saying...

[The Lake Show]

he's a 6'6 shooting big man...which means he doesnt have the handles or quickness to be an elite SF, isnt big enough to bang down low....in other words he's the perfect duke blue devil...i dont see him really becoming anything good anywhere else. In Gonzaga he'll sit behind Bouldin, Daye, Downs

[heyy]

I wish him the best of luck where ever he decides to transfer to. He'll be missed.

[John G]

I'm not surprised he is leaving Dook, I will never forget when they played at UNC. King came in...fired up two three's, one after the other, missed the first, and air-balled the second, and coach K benched him. lol

[DJ]

King needs to go to the Irish. Notre Dame would fit his skill set perfectly as a big guy that can step out and drain the three. In Mike Breys system he could average 20 points a night while knocking down 5 threes a game. Imagine Tory Jackson driving the lane and kicking the ball out to King or McAlarney or dumping it down low to Harangody. Seems like a match made in heaven to me.

[jeff smith]

It's good for King to leave Duke---Coach K has broken yet another spirit. King will haunt Duke sometime in his future.

[David]

This is rediculous, and obviously a selfish move in my book. There's a lot of reasons Taylor King didnt play as much this season. He shot poorly from the field, his ball handling needed a little work, and he was afraid to penetrate when necessary. Sure, he can fire up treys with the best of 'em, but when you miss almost more than you make, its time to start working on another way to put the ball in the hole. I wish him the best of luck wherever we see him next season, and I wish him great success. But, on the other hand, lets see how much success he has when he seems to be too impatient to really mold his self into a complete player. He better start playing for the name on the front of his jersey, not the name on the back.

[charles ralls]

I'm a die hard Duke fan but I must admit the coaching staff has to change the way they develope there players.I
feel that they need to hire a centers coach to help them
teach players how to play the low post position.Offensive and defesive rebounding is a real weakness that Duke has and needs to be addressed.

[Theo]

At Gonzaga Downs and Daye would likely be gone by 09 when King would play. My money says he ends up a zag

[rainmaker717]

This guy is a selfish player that wants his high school career to continue...3's and more 3's and NO DEFENSE...When Howland came to Westwood, King made his exit and went to Coach K in order to be the score master and play a little defense ... NOT!! When he was in the game for Duke he shot bombs that were duds and air balls...and sadly he played lousy "D" so Coach K sat his butt...Now with UCLA in the Final 4 agian this kid is wondering, "why not me?' Let him go to SC where he will be exposed as a fraud...a big kid that likes to shoot ... he is slow and until he learns to play for someone other than his high school baby sitter he will not mature as a player. King, some advice for you and your dad, no more excuses...learn to play defense over the summer call Gary Payton for some lessons. I am sure he is not busy.

[Matt]

I think King opted on leaving because of the shooting guard duke is bringing in next year, has more talent as far as putting the ball on the ground and creating his own shots. King is just a spotup jumpshooter who doesn't work hard enough on defense to fit in with duke's style of play.

[J.C.]

Ok, here we go again. Another Duke player thinks he can do better elsewhere ie. Josh McRoberts. And that's faire and fine. but like many have commented Taylor King lacked a lot as a complete player. Coach K would throw King in the ball game to shoot some 3s and then would bench him. He wasnt good for much else. like others have said. he lacked D and ball skills. and yes. even more so he was slow. so there. thats it. clear and cut. King was unhappy, Duke wasnt that happy with him, so they're losing not much and he might, MIGHT, be gaining better. but come on!!! he couldve got a DUKE education. what an idiot. oh, and Carolina sucks...i live in it. and im tired of the hype. hope UCLA wins it all, you, self-loathing ego crazy tar heels.

[mikey]

All I know is that I watch every game of Dukes this year, and when King played 15 to 20 minutes or more a game, he was one of the top scores if not the top score on the team. Giving him two, three minutes, let him shoot two times, then take him out is bull, any player will miss a few and make a few. And all I know is that Singler missed alot of 3's and was not taken right out when he missed a few. If Coach K would have used King for the last ten minutes of some of those games they lost, they would have had a better chance of winning some of those games! Instead Coach K just watched Duke lose and not change it up to see if some thing could happen. Must coaches don't just watch a team lose and leave some of their key players seating on the bench! Change it up and see what might happen. At the start of the season Duke was HOT!!! Then they started to lose and never looked the same. But one of the key units of the team was missing at the end of the year!!!- Taylor King!!!
Look at the stats, and you will see that he did not have nearly as much time played at the end of the year and the stats will show you that for the amount of time he played and point total for each game compared to all the other players on Dukes team and you will see that Coach K kept out one of his top scores at the end of the year which hurt Duke big time!
Look at the stats, and they say it all!!!!

[James]

Fullerton College, Saddleback College, Irvine Valley College...is the picture becoming clear yet?...Orange Coast College, Cypress College, Santa Ana College, etc., etc., etc.

[steve]

Syracuse was in his top 3 before chosing duke (duke,
syracuse, Gonzaga) and because he has to sit out a year he will be able to start his first year...beside the Cali
connection with Mike Hopkins may bring him the the great white north THE CUSE'

[DeFlippo]

He should go to Notre Dame. Or UCLA. Or Xavier. Or Syracuse. Or Davidson. Or Oregon State (I hear they could use some talent).
Or stay at Duke.

He's a very good basketball player. He had 27 points against Eastern Kentucky.

He'll rock wherever he goes. As long as it's not Carolina. They're jerkfaces.

[TarHeel4Life]

I think that king should go to carolina if he wants to prove that he can play. Rub it in coach k's face that you lost out on a great player. I mean come on they play each other twice in the season and maybe even in the acc championship game. What better way to get revenge then to transfer to carolina. The tarheels know how to develop there players. For example deon thompson use to be 20 pounds heavier when he came to carolina and he has lost that weight and look at him know playing the best basketball under coach roy williams. I will say tha duke does not know how to develop there players like carolina can. Also coach roy williams knows how to use the depth on his team, unlike coach k.

[matt]

Cal state fullerton likes to go up tempo and is a transfer school. Burton would give him the green light.

[Mcraney]

NO DEFENSE KING. Gotta play the D. Outstanding shooter, thats all .Left Duke cause coach K demands it. King wont work on that. Great kid, poor attitude at times,selfish at Marter Dei, but he was the man. Now your with the big boys and daddy cant tell every coach to let you do as you please. Keep working and maybe work harder.I am pulling for him because i have seen him play as a freshman and can be great in college and a sixth man in the league.

[John]

Okay he is a gifted shooter, not as gifted as JJ Redick but gifted. However I believe the real reason he didn't play wasn't offensive in nature rather defensive. His defense is suspect at best. I would say it is totally inadequate for the Blue Devil system.

[ben gatby]

King was an adequate shooter. He needs to expand the other aspects of his game to become a better,even go-to-guy. I think Norte Dame will be the perfect fit for him. He'll flourish in that system

[pete]

I was wondering waht happened to King. I saw him play a game againse Kevin Love in high school and Mater Dei got crushed. all I saw was King tryying to do it all and jack up shot from everywhere.

[JB]

Taylor King is done. He let the high school accolades go to his head...and his selfish attitude finished him off. Watched him play in HS and knew his playing days at the next level would be limited because of his cocky, me-first attitude. Mater Dei treated him like a God, and he drank the Kool-Aid that ultimately led to his basketball playing day demise.