Kobe King Joins Nebraska Basketball

Lincoln – Nebraska Men's Basketball Coach Fred Hoiberg added an experienced scoring guard to the Husker roster with the addition of Wisconsin transfer Kobe King.

King, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound guard from La Crosse, Wis., spent two-plus years with the Badgers, playing 63 games, including 20 starts. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining at Nebraska and provides the Huskers with an experienced high-level scorer with big-game experience.

"We are pleased to add Kobe King to our roster," Hoiberg said. "He is a tough, versatile guard who can score in a variety of ways and is a very good finisher at the rim. Kobe is a hard-nosed defender and can guard multiple positions. He knows how to win and what it takes to be successful in the Big Ten Conference. Kobe has a great work ethic and will continue to enhance his overall game. We are confident that he will thrive in our system."

King was the Badgers' second-leading scorer when he left the program, averaging 10.0 points per game and ranking third on the team with 30 assists while starting all 19 games he appeared in during the 2019-20 campaign. He was the Badgers' leading scorer in Big Ten play, averaging 12.6 ppg on 52 percent shooting in nine conference games. He tallied 11 double-figure efforts in 2019-20, including a pair of 20-point performances in Big Ten play. King scored a career-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting and added four rebounds in a win over Indiana, while tallying 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting against Illinois. He also had 18 points at Rutgers and against Eastern Illinois, when he also snared a career high six rebounds.

As redshirt freshman in 2018-19, King played in all 34 games, including one start, as the Badgers went 23-11 and reached the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 4.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in 19 minutes and enjoyed four double-figure efforts. He posted a season-high 14 points against Oklahoma and added 13 markers in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals against Michigan State.
King received a medical hardship in 2017-18, as he played in just 10 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury in December. He averaged 5.2 points on 46 percent shooting and 1.4 rebounds per game in 19 minutes per contest. He had a season-high 10 points against Ohio State in his Big Ten debut, one of four games where he had at least eight points. He chipped in nine points on 3-of-4 shooting against UCLA. 

King enjoyed a dominant senior season at La Crosse Central High School, as he was named Wisconsin's Mr. Basketball, Gatorade Player of the Year and unanimous selection for Associated Press Player of the Year after leading the Red Raiders to a 26-2 record and the school's first state championship since 1925. He averaged 28.0 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for Coach Todd Fergot, shooting 61 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range. King, who finished his four-year career at La Crosse Central with 2,060 career points, was named Mississippi Valley Conference Player of the Year, La Crosse Tribune Coulee Region Player of the Year and earned All-State honors during his junior campaign after averaging 25.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. He burst on the scene as a sophomore, averaging 16.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. King also competed in track and field, winning Mississippi Valley Conference titles in the high jump (6-8.5) and long jump (22-10).

King comes from a basketball background, as his father, Chris, played collegiately at Wake Forest and was a second-round pick by the Seattle Supersonics in the 1992 NBA Draft. He played professionally from 1993 to 2008, including stints for Seattle, Vancouver and Utah in the NBA. Kobe's cousin, Jimmy King, was a member of the Fab Five at the University of Michigan in the early 1990s before playing professionally for 10 seasons.