King Makes the Most of Her Last Year
The Ledger
Lisa Coffey
BABSON PARK, FL - Center Nikki King was crying to come home. After attempts to play basketball at two different colleges, the Haines City High School product needed a time out. Her basketball future was spinning on the rim, waiting to drop in for two points or fall out and drop to the floor. Playing at Webber International University was going to be her third and perhaps last chance at the game she loved and a free education.
Two years out of the game due to transfers and surgeries, King, 21, reached down deep. She got a trainer. She worked out all summer. She was named The Sun Conference Player of the Week three times. Not only is she leading The Sun Conference in scoring (18.3), rebounds (11.0) and blocks (1.5), she’s gained admiration from her coaches and teammates. She is ninth in the country in NAIA Division II in defensive rebounds. She’s also tied for 12th in double doubles, 13th in field goal percentage, 16th in scoring and 17th in offensive rebounds per game.
“She’s really stepped up this year,” said Webber coach Ben Braaten. “Not only statistically, but also leading in working with the team. To get a Player of the Week, it’s not just an individual thing. It’s a team thing also.”
King was on her way to breaking a full court press, going from end to end with a rebound to the basket out of Haines City. Despite an ACL surgery that kept her out of the game as a senior, she still signed a scholarship to NCAA Division I Robert Morris College in Pennsylvania. She’s thought to be one of the first to do so from the school.
“It was very exciting,” she said. “I got my first letter in ninth grade.” However, her dream of being a big time Division I player tested her heart. As an only child of Lois and Michael King, Nikki was home sick at Robert Morris in Pennsylvania. It was the beginning of a dark time for the promising center. She was calling home from Pennsylvania often, crying because she missed her home and parents. She left after half a semester.
“I thought I was ready to go off (to school away from home),” she said. “I was pretty much disappointed with myself.”
Fortunately Florida Southern coach Jarrod Olson had seen her and signed her on to his squad. “I thought, ‘This is it,” she said. “I want to graduate from here.”
King had another penalty against her. Because she left Robert Morris without completing her freshman year, she had to sit out a year at FSC. King had to sit out the fall of 2007, but she could have played at FSC after Christmas.
Instead, the disappointment returned. (Because she was a freshman and left Robert Morris early, she had to sit out a year). If she had stayed and finished her first year at Robert Morris, she could have played right away, because she transferred down.
“I had trouble with my grades,” she said. “I was definitely out of shape. They gave me a chance and I didn’t do anything with it.” She needed a rebound. “I had to get back in the game and find the love again,” she said.
Olson helped her. He contacted Braaten for King.
Braaten was interested. “I knew she was a pretty decent player,” he said. “I could tell she was rusty, but definitely there was a lot of skill there. I knew we were going to get a pretty serious post player who would do some damage inside for us.”
For King, it was like winning the lottery. “It was my last chance,” she said. “I had to do it if not only for myself, but for my family as well.”
With the transfer, she could play right away at an NAIA school. It was her third school in four years, and quite a while since she had been in the game. Because of an ACL injury her senior year at Haines City High School, she had been out of the game for two years. Even though she earned Sun Conference Newcomer of the Year last year, it took a season to adjust with the Warriors. Now she rules The Suncoast Conference.
Braaten and assistant Rick Brewer have noticed other things about King. Brewer coached against Webber and King last season as head coach with Warner.
“We didn’t worry about her,” he said of King’s first year at Webber. “That’s not the case this year. You have to worry about someone who putting 20 and 10 up every night. Not only is she doing that, but she’s averaging four blocks and four assists and she’s a cheerleader.”
Teammate Ashley Butler sees what King brings. “Her basketball I.Q. is tremendous,” Butler said. “She’s like a magnet with the players. They are attracted to her by her skills, her dedication and her desire.”
Butler admits King has gotten on to her. “She’s the first person on me,” she said. “She’ll give me techniques in the game. She’s like a second coach on the court. As a senior I’m learning from her.”
King’s so comfortable at Webber, some of the players even call her mom. Her confidence is back. Plus, it’s high with a close chemistry of 11 freshmen.
King’s three Player of the Week awards has her playing above the rim. She wants to earn Player of the Year.
“It feels good,” she said. “I know a lot of people doubted me.”