Vincent King Jr. (born January 22, 1997) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Hamburg Towers Hamburg Towers, for sponsorship reasons named Veolia Towers Hamburg, is a professional basketball team, based in Hamburg, Germany. The Towers are currently playing in the Basketball Bundesliga, after promoting from the ProA in 2019. Founded in 2 ...

of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

Early life and high school career

King is the son of Lo and Vincent King Sr. When he was in sixth grade at the

United Faith Christian Academy United Faith Christian Academy (UFCA) is a private, accredited, college-preparatory Christian school for children in Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in mo ...

, he received his first Division I scholarship offer from

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. Prior to his freshman year of high school, King moved to

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

and he attended St. Vincent–St. Mary High School. He became the first freshman to start on the team since

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

and he led the Fighting Irish to the state final. As a sophomore, he averaged 17 points per game and was named to the 2013–14 Associated Press Division II All-Ohio First Team alongside teammate

Jalen Hudson Jalen Andreas Hudson (born May 21, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the TNT Tropang Giga of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Florida Gators. H ...

. King transferred to

Paul VI Catholic High School St. Paul VI Catholic High School (known as PVI or Paul VI) is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school in Chantilly, Virginia, United States. The school was previously located in southwest Fairfax, Virginia and is named after Pope Paul VI. In ...

Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...

prior to his junior year where he was coached by Glenn Farello. He averaged 18.7 points per game as a junior and earned All-Met honors. On the AAU Circuit, King competed for Team Takeover where he averaged 14.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 2015. King scored 35 points in a high school game in December 2015. As a senior, King averaged 22.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game. He led the Panthers to a 20–11 record and to the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division I state championship game. He was a First Team All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference honoree and was selected as the

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

Gatorade Virginia Basketball Player of the Year. King was named a

McDonald's All American The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

in 2016 and was selected to the

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

. King was a five-star recruit ranked No. 27 in his class according to

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

, while

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

ranked him No. 11 in the class of 2016. On June 12, 2015, King committed to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, spurning offers from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

among others. He cited his relationship with Louisville assistant coach Kenny Johnson, previously an assistant at Paul VI, as crucial in his decision.

College career

On February 6, 2017, King scored a career-high 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting in a loss against Virginia. As a freshman at Louisville, King averaged 5.5 points per game off the bench. He started every game as a sophomore and averaged 8.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, shooting 32 percent from three-point range. As a junior, he started five games and averaged 3.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. After the season, he announced he was leaving Louisville and entered the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, King signed with the New York Knicks. He was waived by the Knicks on October 19, 2019. King joined their G League affiliate, the

Westchester Knicks The Westchester Knicks are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in White Plains, New York, and are affiliated with the New York Knicks. The Knicks typically play their home games at Westchester County Center in Whit ...

. King played in 13 of the team's first 15 games then missed roughly a month due to a strained hamstring and knee soreness. He returned to Westchester on January 18, 2020, and on January 31 posted his season high 17 points against the

Maine Red Claws The Maine Celtics (formerly the Maine Red Claws) are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Portland, Maine, and are affiliated with the Boston Celtics. The Maine Celtics play their home games at the Portland Expo B ...

. King averaged 4.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in his rookie season. He was waived on February 1, 2022. On August 10, 2022, he signed with the Bristol Flyers of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howeve ...

. King averaged 18.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2 assists per game, earning BBL Team of the Year honors. On June 30, 2023, he signed with

of the Basketball Bundesliga.

National team career

King competed in the 2013 FIBA Under-16 World Championship representing the United States. He helped the team go 5–0, winning the title while averaging 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. King competed in the

2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship The 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship (Arabic: بطولة العالم لكرة السلة 2014 تحت 17 سنة ) was the 3rd edition of the FIBA Under-17 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship con ...

representing the United States. He helped the team go 7–0, winning the title while averaging 6.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

Career statistics

NBA G League

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Westchester , 26 , , 2 , , 11.8 , , .398 , , .282 , , .769 , , 2.4 , , .6 , , .2 , , .1 , , 4.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 26 , , 2 , , 11.8 , , .398 , , .282 , , .769 , , 2.4 , , .6 , , .2 , , .1 , , 4.7

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 7 , , 13.5 , , .432 , , .421 , , .821 , , 2.1 , , .5 , , .2 , , .1 , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 36 , , 25.4 , , .398 , , .320 , , .735 , , 3.3 , , .9 , , .6 , , .1 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 5 , , 13.7 , , .367 , , .114 , , .791 , , 3.0 , , .6 , , .2 , , .1 , , 3.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 101 , , 48 , , 17.8 , , .400 , , .297 , , .772 , , 2.8 , , .7 , , .3 , , .1 , , 6.1

References

External links

NBA G League profileLouisville Cardinals bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, V. J. 1997 births Living people American expatriate sportspeople in England American expatriate basketball people in the United Kingdom American men's basketball players Bristol Flyers players Basketball players from Akron, Ohio Hamburg Towers players Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Shooting guards Small forwards St. Vincent–St. Mary High School alumni Westchester Knicks players