St. John's standout Houston King signs with EKU

Colonels looking for All-Blade player to become 3-point threat

St. John's Jesuit's Houston King shoots against Lorain during a regional final at Savage Arena this past season. King has signed to play college basketball at Eastern Kentucky University.

THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH
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Vincent Williams and Houston King were a true 1-2 scoring punch for the St. John’s Jesuit basketball team this past season, and each senior standout will play his college basketball in Richmond next season.

Williams, a two-time first-team All-Ohioan, had previously signed to play at Virginia Commonwealth, which is located in Richmond, Virginia.

And on Wednesday, King signed with Eastern Kentucky, which is in Richmond, Kentucky.

St. John's Jesuit's Houston King shoots against Lorain during a regional final at Savage Arena this past season. King has signed to play college basketball at Eastern Kentucky University.

“It’s really a college town, and everybody there in the Richmond community is very supportive,” King said of one of his main reasons for picking EKU. “I could tell on my visit there. Every time we went out to eat, people were asking to take pictures with the coaching staff.

“Seeing stuff like that gives you a good feeling because you feel welcomed.”

The 6-foot-4 King, a sharp-shooting guard, averaged 16.2 points and 4.7 rebounds for a Titans team that won the Three Rivers Athletic Conference and made a regional final this past season. He also had offers from Georgetown, Central Michigan, Kent State, and Bethune-Cookman

“I’ve talked to people who are familiar with Eastern Kentucky,” St. John’s coach Ed Heintschel said, “and they have high praise for it, both as a school and a basketball program.

“I believe Houston made tremendous strides this year as a player and still has a ceiling to go yet. I think, if he gets stronger, he’s going to end up being a really good college player. I’m happy for him. He’s worked hard for that.”

As a senior, King earned first-team honors in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference, made the Division I all-district team and All-Blade teams, and was selected second-team All-Ohio.

VIDEO: Houston King signs with EKU

“We are extremely excited to welcome Houston King to our EKU basketball family,” Colonels head coach A.W. Hamilton said. “Houston is a tremendous all-around player who has huge upside.

“He comes from one of the best high school programs in all of Ohio, where he was well coached and developed a high basketball IQ. He will be an asset to the program on the court and in the classroom.”

Hamilton, who recruited King as a shooting guard, will expect the former Titan to do plenty of that.

“Coach Hamilton, the new head coach, was formerly at North Carolina State and worked at Hargrave, a prep school,” King said. “He’s a real winning coach, and he’s coached 19 NBA players. He’s very successful.

“I just wanted to go where someone who’s helping me has been there before and played at that level.

“He wants to press full court and get up and down and shoot a lot of 3s. He told made their single-season record for 3-pointers made is 115. He wrote that number down and told me he wanted me to break it, whether it’s this year or next year. That’s a goal I should have.”

Contact Steve Junga at sjunga@theblade.com, 419-724-6461, or on Twitter @JungaBlade.