Post by cwizz on Nov 11, 2006 10:04:53 GMT -5
Featured Former Hill Athlete: James " Ketchup " King
Alas, we are finally back with our second featured former Hill Athlete. As College Basketball gets ready to open, we thought we would let you into the world of former Pacific H.S. guard James King. ketchup graduated last spring with a degree in communication, and has become a working man. We sat down with Ketchup last week and asked him about his time at Pacific, as well as what he has been doing recently.
Ketchup played two seasons for Pacific H.S., after transferring from Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, Ca. While at Cabrillio, James averaged 21.5 points per game, which was 10th in state. "I was with Tony Marcopulos, who used to be the assistant coach here(Pacific). That pretty much linked me to UOP. Coach Bob Thomason had talked on the phone, was real close, so he stayed updated with my game , my stats." James pulled the trigger after his first visit to Pacific, adding, "It was small, different type of atmosphere, but I got along with the guys real well. We hung out and seen it click, chemistry and all, it was my first visit." Other schools that contacted Ketchup about recruiting were Utah State, Santa Barbara, Temple, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, but none were as persistent as Cabrillo College.
In his junior year, Ketchup averaging 7.2 points per game, was a part of Pacific’s leathal guard combination of himself,Miah Davis , and Demetrius Jackson. In his senior year Myree was fortunate enough to be a part of one of Pacific’s finest years of basketball. He got to be a part of the State tournament team, and compete in the tournament’s Mountain Dew Slam Dunk Contest on ESPN. The down side of the year was that he suffered a stress fracture in his right foot during the basketball season. The injury lingered and caused him to miss a crucial part of the season. Out of 33 total games, Ketchup only played in 19 games. "I wish that maybe I wouldn’t have broken my foot this last year, I probably would have still been playing somewhere," Myree said. Though there were some set backs, he did discuss the great experience of the State tournaments saying, "It was crazy, that’s the only word that can describe it." He added, "It was a lot of stress on top of a lot of fun, a lot of anticipation. Just being able to go that far and be underrated and come out and upset a Quad 5 team, the experience is unbelievable." For the first time since 1997, Pacific was one of 64 teams under the media spot light. The attention was crazy, you had media here, media there, cameras everywhere. "UOP is not really used to being in the spot light that much since Olowokandi, but hopefully that is something to remain in UOP’s repitoire."
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When most people think of James, they remember him as a superior showman with the amazing ability to get into the air. He first dunked on a regulation hoop during the summer league when he was 13 years old. His team was playing their arch rivals when a player missed a shot, James went to the ball, and made history. "The ball came off perfect off the rim, I kinda jumped up there just to grab the rim, ended up grabbing the ball and putting it in," James said. He added, "after that, it was just undescribable, so I had to just keep feeling that feeling." In the slam dunk contest, James went up against the likes of Tony Allen and Andre Emmet. He would finish second to Emmet on a controversial dunk. Instead of dunking over a taller adult, like James did, Emmet copied the dunk, but over a short group of kids. James commented on Emmet’s performance, "I was robbed in the physical part of it, but if you’re going on the other side of it, he did involve kids. He was the better entertainer that night, losing to him wasn’t a big deal."
Nowadays, life has changed for Ketchup since he graduated. "Life has gotten a litle harder, knowing that now I gotta go out and make meaning out of life for myself. I can’t live for basketball," James said. He is currently working as a personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness, and plays basketball for the Young Players Association. James says the Association is picking up steam, and that it has recently had some major T.V. appearances. He says he has been hitting the weight room hard, and mirroring the work outs that he did while playing for Pacific. Ketchup is going to keep working hard, and is confident that his moment to shine on the court awaits. He summed it up, "It’s all about what I know, and what I know I can do, and once I get the opportunity to play against elite players, it’ll be my time to shine." Thanks for all the great memories you have already given us, and on behalf of HillAthletics.com, we believe in you James.
Alas, we are finally back with our second featured former Hill Athlete. As College Basketball gets ready to open, we thought we would let you into the world of former Pacific H.S. guard James King. ketchup graduated last spring with a degree in communication, and has become a working man. We sat down with Ketchup last week and asked him about his time at Pacific, as well as what he has been doing recently.
Ketchup played two seasons for Pacific H.S., after transferring from Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, Ca. While at Cabrillio, James averaged 21.5 points per game, which was 10th in state. "I was with Tony Marcopulos, who used to be the assistant coach here(Pacific). That pretty much linked me to UOP. Coach Bob Thomason had talked on the phone, was real close, so he stayed updated with my game , my stats." James pulled the trigger after his first visit to Pacific, adding, "It was small, different type of atmosphere, but I got along with the guys real well. We hung out and seen it click, chemistry and all, it was my first visit." Other schools that contacted Ketchup about recruiting were Utah State, Santa Barbara, Temple, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, but none were as persistent as Cabrillo College.
In his junior year, Ketchup averaging 7.2 points per game, was a part of Pacific’s leathal guard combination of himself,Miah Davis , and Demetrius Jackson. In his senior year Myree was fortunate enough to be a part of one of Pacific’s finest years of basketball. He got to be a part of the State tournament team, and compete in the tournament’s Mountain Dew Slam Dunk Contest on ESPN. The down side of the year was that he suffered a stress fracture in his right foot during the basketball season. The injury lingered and caused him to miss a crucial part of the season. Out of 33 total games, Ketchup only played in 19 games. "I wish that maybe I wouldn’t have broken my foot this last year, I probably would have still been playing somewhere," Myree said. Though there were some set backs, he did discuss the great experience of the State tournaments saying, "It was crazy, that’s the only word that can describe it." He added, "It was a lot of stress on top of a lot of fun, a lot of anticipation. Just being able to go that far and be underrated and come out and upset a Quad 5 team, the experience is unbelievable." For the first time since 1997, Pacific was one of 64 teams under the media spot light. The attention was crazy, you had media here, media there, cameras everywhere. "UOP is not really used to being in the spot light that much since Olowokandi, but hopefully that is something to remain in UOP’s repitoire."
"]When most people think of James, they remember him as a superior showman with the amazing ability to get into the air. He first dunked on a regulation hoop during the summer league when he was 13 years old. His team was playing their arch rivals when a player missed a shot, James went to the ball, and made history. "The ball came off perfect off the rim, I kinda jumped up there just to grab the rim, ended up grabbing the ball and putting it in," James said. He added, "after that, it was just undescribable, so I had to just keep feeling that feeling." In the slam dunk contest, James went up against the likes of Tony Allen and Andre Emmet. He would finish second to Emmet on a controversial dunk. Instead of dunking over a taller adult, like James did, Emmet copied the dunk, but over a short group of kids. James commented on Emmet’s performance, "I was robbed in the physical part of it, but if you’re going on the other side of it, he did involve kids. He was the better entertainer that night, losing to him wasn’t a big deal."
Nowadays, life has changed for Ketchup since he graduated. "Life has gotten a litle harder, knowing that now I gotta go out and make meaning out of life for myself. I can’t live for basketball," James said. He is currently working as a personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness, and plays basketball for the Young Players Association. James says the Association is picking up steam, and that it has recently had some major T.V. appearances. He says he has been hitting the weight room hard, and mirroring the work outs that he did while playing for Pacific. Ketchup is going to keep working hard, and is confident that his moment to shine on the court awaits. He summed it up, "It’s all about what I know, and what I know I can do, and once I get the opportunity to play against elite players, it’ll be my time to shine." Thanks for all the great memories you have already given us, and on behalf of HillAthletics.com, we believe in you James.
