End of The Line

King and The Bluejays Eliminated in the Elite 8

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Frederick King of Mangrove Cay, Andros’s freshman year came to an end in dramatic fashion on Sunday when his Creighton Bluejays lost to San Diego State 57-56. 

King played three minutes grabbing 2 rebounds. His mentor, starting center Andrew Kalkbrenner led the Jays with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Baylor Schierman and Andrew Kaluma added 12 points apiece with Schierman adding 9 rebounds. 

The game was a barnburner from beginning to end. Although Creighton went up early, taking a 28-16 lead in the first, they were never able to keep SDSU at bay resulting in a dogfight in the second half with no team leading by more than 4.

Creighton would tie the game up with 32 seconds left in the game when Baylor Schierman made a layup to make the score 56-all. SDSU took the attack right back to Creighton in the final seconds of the game with Darrion Trammell getting fouled on a floater attempt with one second left in the game.

Trammell would miss the first free throw but he made the 2nd one. Game, Aztecs. 

This is what we do. #TheTimeIsNow | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/Fn0hLOgPwy

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) March 26, 2023

With a veteran player like Kalkbrenner leading the way, King was relegated to the bench for all but three starts. He averaged 8 minutes per game, scoring 3 points on 60 percent shooting while grabbing 2.5 rebounds. He did have his moments, going for 16 and 11 against Marquette and then scoring 16 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and blocking an otherworldly 5 shots a few days later, other than that, he was stuck behind the stalwart Kalkbrenner.

King showed that he is a viable college basketball player against the best competition that Creighton played against.

Whether Kalkbrenner transfers, goes pro or decides to return, look for King’s role to drastically expand next season.

When it does, you’ll read about him a lot more here.