Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
“He's figured out the nuances” — King breaks through Blue Raider rotation
2/3/2023 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Mississippi State transfer is having a breakout season after years of work on the court
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — On his team’s flight down to the College Basketball Invitational, Elias King didn’t have much hope for the end of his 2022 season.
Coming off a “DNP” – stat book parlance for “Did Not Play” – in Middle Tennessee men’s basketball’s triple overtime loss to UAB in the Conference USA Tournament, King’s fifth game out of the previous 15 that he did not appear in for the Blue Raiders, King wasn’t sure how much he’d get to play at the CBI in Daytona Beach, Fla.
It was a feeling the transfer from Mississippi State had gotten used to in his time in Murfreesboro.
“Right before the trip, I was mentally drained,” King said. “I thought I was going to go down there and not play. But at the same time, I'm still being a good teammate, still being there for my guys, but I was still like 'Man, another trip!'”
Early on in MTSU’s opening round game against California Baptist, however, assistant coach Wes Long had an assignment for him. The Lancers’ Australian 6-foot-5 point guard, Taran Armstrong, was giving the Blue Raiders fits on offense. Could the 6-foot-8 Elias King guard him?
Bet, said King.
His head coach, Nick McDevitt, remembers the moment well. A true lightbulb moment, where everything he and his staff had been working on with King over the past two seasons came together at once.
“That was one of the first times watching him where you thought he understood spacing properly,” McDevitt said. “Be close enough to bother somebody, but far enough off to not give up drives to the bucket.”
King stuck in the rotation in Daytona, scoring nine points in 19 minutes of play, while helping hold Armstrong to a 2-for-13 day from the field. He’d play 14 minutes two days later against Boston University, scoring 12 points, followed by 14 minutes and 10 points against Abilene Christian. If not for a knee injury taking him out of the championship against UNCW early, limiting him to just four minutes against the Seahawks, he might very well have been the final spark to take MTSU to the CBI title.
This season, King has found his way into being a critical member of the MTSU rotation, averaging 8.4 points per game and 3.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 37.8 percent from beyond the three-point line in 20.3 minutes a night as one of, if not the, first Blue Raiders off the bench. Known for his ability as a shooter, McDevitt said that increase in minutes has been due to King understanding more of nuances of defending, of rebounding, making him a more well-rounded player.
King’s work at the top of the Blue Raiders’ triangle press, acting as a 6-foot-8 point man that’s hard to get around, has also been key in a number of games for MTSU.
“He's figured out the nuances on how to play the top of it,” McDevitt said. “In multiple games this year, it has changed the outcome of the game.”
It’s a role that King clearly relishes, helping him already nearly double his steal numbers from a season ago with 17 steals on the year.
“I get to intimidate people,” King said with a smile. “People are very nervous with the ball when I'm up top. I look at people and I look them in the face and they're like 'Ah, I've got a 6-8 big dude in front of me that I can't get past.' And I love seeing it.”
A defensive force that can shoot the lights out of the gym for a Conference USA program was perhaps not the role King expected to have as a prep player in high school, where he often rubbed elbows at elite camps with future NBA stars like Keldon Johnson, Anthony Edwards and Wendall Carter, among others.
A consensus 4-star recruit out of Lincoln Academy, King started his collegiate career at Mississippi State, before entering the transfer portal after seeing limted minutes during the 2020-21 season with the Bulldogs.
Nick McDevitt was the first coach to call, just minutes after his name was released to coaches around the country.
“As soon as I entered my name into the transfer portal, he called my phone,” King said. “I'm very sad that I had to leave, and I'm in the car. He calls me. I'm like, 'Oh wow.'”
King said the reputation of Conference USA was well known to him, thanks to working out at Paul Millsap’s (A former LA Tech basketball player) CORE4 Gym in Atlanta. From MTSU’s point of view, the skillset King had that McDevitt and his staff knew of in high school, as well as the fact that King was likely looking for more playing time after appearing in just six games at MSU, made things a good fit for both parties.
“Based on what we were losing that year, his skillset was something we needed,” McDevitt said.
But that playing time was sporadic at best through King’s first two seasons in Murfreesboro, as King struggled to break into the rotation. McDevitt said King would crowd players on defense, not using his length to his advantage to give some space and still be able to contest shots. Instead, the crowded defense would result in getting blown by when confronted with strong dribblers, a necessity for him to guard given his perimeter skills.
That lack of defensive nuance, plus an over reliance on his shooting ability, which still popped whenever he was on the court, made it difficult to find time for King in McDevitt’s defensive, pressing scheme.
“He was trying to earn his minutes by just shooting the ball,” McDevitt said. “And there's so much more to his game than just shooting. But because of his rep growing up, that's where he was going to try to earn his minutes.”
Those defensive deficiencies were not present in King’s CBI play, giving McDevitt confidence in him going into the next season. King’s work in the weight room also showed his maturity as a player.
“I was 186 pounds, I was embarrassed,” King said of his weight coming into MTSU. “Coach Nick, he would jokefully get on me. He'd be like 'Man, I know your dreams and aspirations, you do aspire to play in the NBA. You cannot go like that.'”
Working with Strength Coach Brandon Buskey, McDevitt said King put on 15-20 pounds of muscle over the summer, jumping his playing weight to around 215 pounds. A weight that has helped King maintain longer minutes, as well as beat and bang in the paint and fight for more rebounds.
More than anything else, McDevitt noted, the success in the weight room gave King confidence that he hopes will continue to help him develop the rest of his career.
“It's given him a lot of confidence that if he puts his mind to getting better at something, a deficiency, he's capable of doing it,” McDevitt said.
