As noted in the Orange
County Register, Cal State Fullerton is on the recruiting trail starting
today. Last week, however, the Titans were wooing Yaphett King, a post-type
player in a guards body. According to Redlands
coach Steve Eck, "Yaphett can shoot the three and also play inside
with his Charles Barkley body."
According
to TheInsiders.com recruiting experts, his talent is a mid-major plus and was
receiving early interest from several schools from the WAC and Conference-USA.
This past season with Redlands, at the Christmas break, King was averaging 14
points, 7 rebounds and 5.1 assists. When he went back to his hometown in Florida
for the holidays he broke his foot. He sat out the second semester, put a few
pounds on his body, and then somehow came back and played with five games left.
Eck said he was playing at about 65%. "He probably shouldn't have played
but he doesn't like to watch," Eck said. "He scored 21 in the Region 2
championship game and made the all tournament team in the Region.
Then when we went to Hutch for the Nationals, he tweaked his foot a day
before our game and he was a non factor. It killed our chances, but he is just a
workhorse." Redlands closed out the season with a 30-3 record.
"Yaphett is a winner," Ecks says. "His looks are deceiving as
he is very athletic for his build He can jump and run the court
well."
As a freshman, where Redlands won the NJCAA
National Championship (Division II), King averaged 15.6 points, 7.6 rebounds,
and 2.1 assists. He shot 62% from the field. He is also an outstanding student with a 3.6 GPA.
The Pick-up game
Kings possesses a quick first step to the basket, runs the floor well and has
a very effective fall-away jumper inside the paint. He played pick-up with most
of the returning Cal State Fullerton players and he appeared to fit in quite
well. It's difficult as an outsider to come in and play pick-up with complete
strangers but Yaphett looked comfortable from the get-go.
Anthony Bolton set the tone early by getting him the ball his first three
trips down the floor. He only made one but you can tell he is athletic and has a
nice shooting tough around the basket. He also had several nice passes. King
will make a nice replacement for Jamal Forcheney if he can show that he can
rebound and play defense against taller players. As with all the returning
players, he needs to start playing more and getting back into shape.