Royal George: Redshirt year bridges gap for King

The Colorado Buffaloes basketball team had a log-jam at their wing position last year. Between Xavier Johnson, Dustin Thomas, Tre’Shaun Fletcher and George King, there simply weren’t enough minutes to go around. Somebody had to be the odd man out, and it ended up being George King.

King, who played as a freshman, decided to redshirt during his sophomore year in school to put a year between himself, Fletcher and Thomas.

“That was really tough because I was expecting to play, I was ready to put my freshman year behind me because I didn’t play a lot,” King admitted. “I was ready to play 25 plus minute a game as a sophomore but [head] coach [Tad Boyle] talked to me and told me that he thought it would be best for me to redshirt because I was only going to play 15 to 20 minutes a game. I said ‘you know what coach, you’re right, I’m going to have to swallow my pride and take this year off and get better and help the team out.'”

Originally, King felt slighted that he was the one redshirting, but the head coach helped to subside those feelings quickly.

“At first I thought, ‘man he doesn’t want me to play, he doesn’t think I’m good enough,'” He admitted. “But as the season progressed, practicing with the guys, he really was coaching me just as hard as he was the starters even though I wasn’t playing. I noticed right then, ‘wow, this guy really sees something in me, and he really has a plan for me.'”

As we sit here less than a month before that Buffaloes tip off their season, things have changed quite a bit at that once clogged up wing position. Dustin Thomas, exit stage right (transfer), Xavier Johnson, exit stage left (achilles injury), King and Fletcher to center stage.

Ask any player on the team who improved the most this offseason and those are probably the two names you’ll hear the most. King couldn’t speak for his teammates, but was willing to venture a few guesses as to why he comes up in those talks.

“I think I’ve grown a lot, physically and also mentally,” explained the redshirt sophomore. “The more I’ve been playing, the more I’ve been understanding our plays, our defensive calls and the more the game has slowed down for me. I think that’s maturity setting in, I think I’ve grown up across the board as a basketball player.”

“I’ve taken the weight room more seriously because I know my freshman year I got pushed around,” he added. “I played at 210 pounds which I thought was good but that wasn’t necessarily the case for this level. I’ve added another ten to 15 pounds to my body and also a better skill set so I can play at this pace and bang with those guys not only inside but also on the outside.”

All very good signs, but when King was asked where he’s improved the most in the last year, his confidence really shined.

“Posting the ball, posting up. I don’t think there are a lot of guys that can guard me in the post, especially guys that are my size, maybe even guys that are a little bit bigger than me, and of course guys that are smaller than me can’t guard me,” he said with a stern look. “I think that’s going to be a surprise this season, especially in Pac-12 play when I’m taking these guards on the block.”

Boyle endorsed King’s statement on his post-up abilities, but didn’t stop there.

“George is certainly a weapon and a matchup issue for opposing teams because he has a skill set that can really make it difficult for the opponent,” told the head coach. “He’s so big and strong as a perimeter (player). He can get them to the rim and even post them up and overpower them. He can take big guys away from the basket. He shoots well from the perimeter.”

The King hype train has reached such high speeds that Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports even reported Boyle had already named King a starter back on October 3rd. While Boyle clarified today that is is much too early to name a starter, King said it is something he is working towards.

“It’s really important to me,” he explained of a starting role. “But that’s obviously up to coach Boyle, he’s going to use me where he thinks is best for the team, whether that’s starting or coming off of the bench, it is what it is.”

Aside from being one of the five to have his name called when they dim the new lighting system at the Coors Events Center this year, the San Antonio product, with hands that will assure you that everything is bigger in Texas, isn’t worried about any individual achievements.

“Personal goals? I have team goals,” he said. “I want to win the Pac-12 and if you win that obviously you go on to play in the tournament.”

If those goals are going to come true, or anything close to true, that George King hype train better stay on the tracks.