The Gophers officially have a Minnesotan back on the roster.
As expected, Eagan-native Joey King signed a tender to play for the Gophers, the University of Minnesota officially announced on Tuesday.
King played at Drake last season, averaging 6.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 19 minutes a game but decided to transfer for family reasons and therefore may be eligible for a waiver to play immediately. No announcement has been made on that yet.
"Joey showed last season tht he is an inside player that can also step out and hit the three-point shot," Gophers coach Richard Pitino said in a release. "We want to play an up-tempo style of basketball so to have a versatile player with his size is going to be a luxury."
King, who played at Eastview High School, shot .428 from the field overall and .347 from three-point range last season. He joins Deandre Mathieu, Daquein McNeil and Malik Smith as part of Pitino's inaugural recruiting class with the Gophers. With Trevor Mbakwe, Rodney Williams and Andre Ingram leaving after last season, and then Minneapolis native Joe Coleman announcing his intent to transfer, the Gophers were without a Minnesotan before signing King. King also brings much needed help in the Gophers' now-thin frontcourt.
