George King, one of three senior starters for Colorado, is off to a good start for the Buffaloes in the opening week of the 2017-18 season.
King sparked CU’s second half surge in last Friday’s 66-51 victory over Northern Colorado, scoring all 12 of his points and grabbing eight of his nine rebounds in the final 20 minutes after picking up two quick fouls in the first four minutes of the game.
“When I first got in, I was overdoing things and overthinking, trying too hard to impose my will,” King said. “Namon (Wright) talked to me when I came off of the bench and had some words for me. I was able to allow the game to come to me a little bit more. Obviously rebound, and impose my will.”
King and CU return to action tonight when they host the University of Denver, coached by former Buffs assistant Rodney Billups (CU All-American and NBA All-Star Chauncey Billups), at Coors Event Center at 7 p.m. It will be the 83rd all-time meeting between the schools.
King’s leadership’s on and off the court is badly needed as he and CU’s two other senior starters (Tory Miller-Stewart and Dominique Collier) have combined for 282 career games and 128 starts. The other 12 players on the roster (11 active) have a combined eight starts and 88 career games.
Out of those 88 games, 17 belong to senior walk-on Josh Repine accounting for a total of 21 career minutes played.
King is well on pace to become the 34th member of Colorado’s 1,000-point club, currently ranking 40th in all-time scoring with 892 points. King needs just six 3-pointers to enter the Buffaloes’ career top 10 list and his 40.5 percentage from 3-point range puts him second all-time at Colorado, just behind Mack Tuck’s 40.6 from 1993-96.
Ever since freshman guard McKinley Wright stepped foot on campus this summer, King has taken him under his wing and showed him the ropes, so to speak.
“George told me that there is no such thing as pressure when you’re prepared,” Wright said after CU’s win over UNC. “Ever since I’ve stepped on campus, these two guys (King and Miller-Stewart) and the rest of the team have been helping me prepare. They have been leading me and guiding me in the right direction.”
HOME OPENER WEDNESDAY FOR WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: The Buffs split two season-opening games on the road, winning at Samford (71-60) before dropping a 87-80 overtime decision at North Carolina Sunday in Chapel Hill, NC as Kennedy Leonard led CU in points (24) and assists (seven) and added six rebounds. Alexis Robinson contributed 16 points while freshman Annika Jank joined the juniors as the only other Buff in double digits with 15 points.
Continuing their southern-themed early non-conference slate, Colorado hosts Florida Atlantic Wednesday at 7 p.m. MT at Coors Events Center. The close road loss to a nationally prominent program like North Carolina supports the belief the Buffs are a much-improved team in 201718. Last year, the Buffs won 10 more games overall than the year before and two more league games than the previous season.
In the first season under head coach JR Payne, Colorado finished tied for ninth in the Pac-12 (5-13 league mark) and participated in first round of the WNIT. It was the first time the Buffs had been to the postseason in three years. Continuing her efforts to rebuild the Colorado program, Payne has brought in eight newcomers. Just five letterwinners return, three of which are starters, including Leonard and Robinson, last season’s leading scorers.
