V.J. King

VJ King, pictured here handling the ball against Notre Dame, who was named to the All-ACC Academic Men's Basketball team for the third straight year.

V.J. King dribbles the ball during the Cardinals game with Nicholls at KFC YUM! Center on November 8.

Photo by: Jeff Reinking | Louisville Athletics

VJ King takes a shot in the Cards' win over Bellarmine

V.J. King takes a shot during the Red and White Scrimmage

Louisville Men's Basketball v Florida State | V.J. King

Louisville Men's Basketball v Wake Forest | V.J. King

Photo by: Geoff Burke | USA TODAY Sports

Position:
Guard/Forward
Height:
6-6
Weight:
215
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Cleveland, Ohio
High School:
Paul VI Catholic HS

Junior Year

Team co-captain for the Cardinals with Christen Cunningham.
Double-figure scorer in three games and a starter in five.
Honored on the 2019 All-ACC Academic Team, the third year he has earned the recognition.
Finished with six points and a career-high 10 rebounds against Notre Dame on March 3, while also dishing out two assists and no turnovers.
Gave the Cardinals a big lift off the bench in the ACC Tournament, averaging 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in two outings.
Totaled a season-high 17 points against Central Arkansas, his 24th career double-figure scoring game. Also dished out a career-tying four assists and pulled down six rebounds in the game.

Sophomore Year

Lone returning starter and top returning scorer from the Cardinals’ 2017-18 season.
Honored on the 2018 All-ACC Academic Team, the second year he earned the recognition.
Starter at shooting guard scored in double figures in 14 games, including seven of the last 16 and nine of the last 20.
Ranked fourth on the team in scoring with 8.6 points per game and was sixth on the team in three-point field goal percentage (.320).
Generally received the challenge of defending the top guard or wing of the opposing team.
Dished out a career-high four assists, while knocking down a season-high seven field goals to finish with 15 points against Wake Forest.
Scored a season-high 17 points against Purdue and Memphis and tied his career-high with three assists against Memphis.
Collected a career-high three steals in the Cards’ win against Indiana.

Freshman Year

2017 All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball team selection.
Split the time at small forward with Deng Adel as a freshman. Made his first career start against Indiana, and started seven games.
Led the team in free throw percentage (.821 46-of-56) and three-point field goal percentage (.421, 16-of-38; among players with over 20 attempts).
Scored a career-high 24 points against Virginia, finishing 3-of-5 from behind the arc while scoring a career-high eight field goals and connecting on 5-of-6 from the line.
In his last 13 games, King hit 47.5 percent of his field goals (19-of-40, including 5-of-11 three-pointers).
In the five games he played 20 or more minutes, he averaged 13.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and shot 52.1 percent from the field in those games.
Missed the Virginia Tech game with a thigh bruise, but returned to the court the following game at North Carolina.
Totaled 14 points, three rebounds and a season-high three assists at Grand Canyon, scoring 12 of his points in the second half.

High School

A McDonald’s All-America selection, King averaged 22.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.1 steals as a senior last season in leading Paul VI (20-11) in Fairfax, Va. to the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division I state championship game.
The Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year also earned all-state and all-conference honors. He was ranked No. 20 nationally by Scout.com, No. 23 in the ESPN 100, 26th by Rivals.com, and 27th by 247Sports.com.
Participated in the prestigious McDonald’s All-America game at the United Center in Chicago and the Jordan Brand Classic at the Barclays Center in New York, totaling 15 points, four rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes in the latter event.
Averaged 18.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists as a junior in helping Paul VI to a 20-15 record while earning first-team all-state, all-area and all-conference honors.
Originally from North Carolina, King moved to Akron, Ohio, where he played at St. Vincent-St. Mary -- the alma mater of LeBron James -- through his sophomore season before transferring. He averaged 16.2 points as a sophomore in helping SVSM to a 19-10 record and the 2013 Ohio Division II State Tournament semifinals.
As a freshman, he averaged 16.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and four blocked shots as SVSM advanced to the 2013 Ohio Division II State Tournament finals and posted a 20-12 record.
King has won two gold medals with USA Basketball in the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Maldonado, Uruguay, averaging 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds; and the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates where he averaged 6.7 points and 2.9 rebounds. He participated in the 2015 USA Basketball Junior National Team minicamp in October.
In AAU competition for Team Takover, King was the semifinals MVP at the 2015 Peach Jam in Savannah, Ga. when he totaled 26 points and six rebounds.
His father Vincent King played professional basketball in foreign countries for 10 years after scoring 1,037 points in his collegiate career at Indiana University of Pennsylvania from 1988-92.
Chose to sign with the Cardinals after narrowing a host of opportunities to UofL, Arizona, Connecticut, Kentucky and Virginia.
His Paul VI Catholic High School teammate Frank Howard is a junior guard at Syracuse.

Personal

Born Jan. 22, 1997 ... Son of Vincent and Lo King ... Has one younger sister, Jalen ... Major is sport administration.
Personal goal at UofL is to win a national championship.
Enjoys playing golf occasionally, art and playing video games in his spare time.
Chose to attend UofL because it “just felt right, the best place for me, and its tradition.”
Best basketball advice given to him was to believe in yourself.
Most proud of winning two gold medals with USA Basketball.
Best moment of his athletic career was when he chose to attend the University of Louisville.
Feels Will Smith would be the best actor to play him in a movie.
Few people know that he is good at drawing.
His parents have had the greatest influence on his athletic career.
When he played basketball as a kid, he pretended he was Kobe Bryant.
If you walked into his dorm room, the first thing you would notice is his Cleveland Browns blanket on the wall.
Chose to wear No. 0 because former Cardinals Damion Lee and Terry Rozier wore it, and his first choice of 13 was already taken.
Among reality shows, he feels he would fare best on Worst Cooks in America.
Best thing about being a Cardinal is "the support of the fan base."
Would most like to meet Beyonce.