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'05 PA RB/DB Justin King (Penn State signee)

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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_202876.html

For King, college is only a semester away

By Kevin Gorman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, July 11, 2004

As if it isn't enough to be considered the highest-rated football prospect from Western Pennsylvania since LaVar Arrington, Justin King has raised the stakes by promising to set a precedent.
The Gateway star cornerback, a top-10 national talent, plans to graduate early from high school and enroll in the school of his choice by January.

"I did some research, weighed the pros and cons," King said, "and it looked good academically and football-wise."

Early enrollment has been a hot trend in college football the past decade, ever since Eric Zeier jumpstarted his record-setting career at Georgia in the spring of 1991. The theory is that by taking classes and participating in spring ball, the early graduate gets a head start on his high school classmates.

"I think it's going to be very beneficial," said Gateway coach Terry Smith, who is King's stepfather. "He'll get spring ball in and he'll get adjusted academically before the pressure of the season starts."

King's predecessors, particularly the quarterbacks, have had mixed results. It worked wonders for Zeier and North Carolina State's Philip Rivers, but Brock Berlin, John Rattay, A.J. Suggs and J.P. Losman transferred from their initial college of choice.

On the flip side, early enrollment helped Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett and Southern Cal fullback Brandon Hancock earn starting jobs as true freshmen.

Smith believes it will help King stay on pace to earn his degree within three years, in case he is in position to jump to the NFL after his junior season.

"As long as he continues the way he is, he has a shot at the pros," Smith said. "We want him to be graduated by his third year. My goal is, I want him to graduate. If he's blessed and gifted enough to get to the next level, it's gravy."

For those who think King is getting carried away, consider that he has NFL size (6-foot, 180 pounds) and speed (4.4) and ranks No. 7 nationally by TheInsiders.com and No. 10 by Rivals.com. Plus, he has a 3.0 grade-point average and scored 880 on the SAT, making him qualified for freshman eligibility.

"The good thing is, there's no knocks on him," Smith said. "Justin has proven he's a good all-around player, physically and mentally."

First, King has to choose a college. He has narrowed his choices from 54 scholarship offers to five schools: Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Southern Cal. Many consider Michigan the front-runner, but a visit to Gainesville this weekend has been an eye-opener for King.

"It's not what I expected," he said. "It's better."

There will be cynics who decry King's decision to enroll early because he'll miss out on childhood memories. But King attended the junior-senior prom this past spring, says he won't miss running track and plans to finish college classes in time to return for Gateway's commencement ceremonies.

"It's not their business," King said. "I'm doing what's best for me. In the long run, it will help me out."

As of now, King is set to become a leader in the early enrollment parade. His level of success could determine whether the WPIAL has any followers.
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free USC rivals

USCFootball.com caught up with Rivals #1 ranked cornerback, Justin King of Pittsburgh (Pa.) Gateway, just as he was packing for an unofficial visit to the University of Florida.

King will be visiting the Trojans in the near future.
"Yes sir, I'm taking an unofficial visit to Florida this Friday through Sunday. I think it's a great place. They have great football players and warm weather - you can't beat that."

Running backs coach, Mike Locksley, is handling Justin's recruitment for the Gators. What do they talk about?

"We're just trying to build a relationship. He's just talking about me coming in and making an impact."

With his 4.3 second 40-yard dash time on a 6-foot-0, 180 pound frame, it's easy to see why Justin has received a whopping 54 scholarship offers already. Which schools are standing out?

"Florida, Penn State, Michigan, USC, Miami, and Ohio State."

With USC being on the other side of the country from Pittsburgh, do they have a chance with Justin?

"I really like them. They have a great coaching staff, a winning tradition - great tradition period. It's L.A., you can't beat it. I'll be going out there soon. I'm taking an official visit there."

Has Justin decided on any of his other official visits yet?

"No, no others yet."

He has already taken unofficial visits this summer to Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State. The Florida visit will be his last unofficial for the year.

"Yes sir, I'm through for the summer with unofficial visits already. Florida is my last unofficial."

I asked Justin to compare his three visits thus far, but he found them rather similar.

"They were all pretty equal. All were about a 9.5 (out of ten). The only thing was that I didn't get to see all of the players. They were done with the first session of summer workouts and were taking a break until the next session."

Justin King sports a top six, in no particular order, of Florida, Penn State, Michigan, USC, Miami, and Ohio State. Whichever of those schools receives his signature in February will get not only an excellent football player, but a good student as well. Justin sports a 2.9 core GPA and received an 870 on his SAT exam.
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rivals premium-Kurelic

same list of favorites (including tOSU)- probably will official visit with scUM, PSU and Florida

He did mention that tOSU has loyal people (not sure what he meant by that) and he has a good relationship with Coach T.

The things he wanted from his school

* opportuntiy to play early
* academic support
* coaching staff is important
* come in with a good recruiting class
 
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Next year there is going to be one starting spot available when Dustin Fox leaves, the other CB will probably be locked down with EJ, then we have Ashton, oh then of course that Ginn character who seems to be superman might very well take a starting position. EJ will be a senior so his Soph year there would be another opening.

So if really early playing time is a huge problem, then we are in a deep hole I imagine. scUM has a real advantage hear because their CB situation is weak, I for one like to have this sort of problem.
 
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* opportunity to play early

this is why we are not a serious contender. Compare our depth at DB to any of his other favorites, except maybe Florida if their verbals all stick, and it's not even a contest. michigan? penn state? usc? please....

Underwood, Youboty, Ginn, O'Neal plus Underwood2, Lane, and whoever else becomes a member of this class.
 
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