King’s Court

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Donuts. Two-and-a-half of them, to be precise.

That was Anthony King’s meal before the best performance of his college career.

“It was weird. I had an academic meeting with Darren Cohen, who was our basketball operations guy. I think they had like faculty donuts, Dunkin’ Donuts,” King recalled. “I had like two lemon-filled and like a half of a jelly. I ate it and that was it; I got ready for the game.”

Clearly, the donuts worked.

Later in the day on Nov. 29, 2004, King took the court against Florida Atlantic and posted the first triple-double in University of Miami men’s basketball history.

He compiled 13 blocked shots to go along with 11 points and 10 rebounds at the then-Convocation Center, setting an ACC record for swats that still stands to this day and has been matched just once.

“That night, after the game, Darren says, ‘Okay, from now on, you get the same amount of donuts,’” King chortled.

Just 27 ACC players have notched a triple-double and only eight have done so with blocks, the latter a list featuring legendary names such as Tim Duncan, Tree Rollins and Ralph Sampson.

King was also the 11th of only 18 individuals in NCAA Division I history to tally 13-plus blocks, with just six people—including Shawn Bradley and David Robinson—notching a higher total.

His outing in that 84-68 win over the Owls was, by any measure, a remarkable showing that remains to this day a historic achievement.

“I think we went out to eat that night, a couple of the big men, and then we see a fast three seconds run across SportsCenter and I was like, ‘Oh man, I got a triple-double and it was on SportsCenter!’” King said. “Of course, social media wasn’t that big then; it was just Facebook [and that] really just came out. So, it was like, ‘Oh, I got a triple-double’ [when you’re] calling your folks and, by that time, people back home—I’m from Durham, North Carolina—they’ve definitely seen it. It was pretty big after that.”

Despite—or maybe because of—his pregame meal, King started his transcendent outing right from the jump.

The Southern Durham (N.C.) High School graduate logged six blocks in the first 4:10 of the game, immediately asserting his presence.

“I think I might’ve had like three in one possession from the same guy. He just kept going to the same move and I think the first one I jumped and the next two I didn’t even jump. I was just there and he brought it right to my hands,” King said. “So, after that, it was just, ‘Okay, I have pretty good timing. Whatever happens, happens.’ Then, I was catching floaters, I was catching guards trying to come in for a layup and then, obviously, I was catching weak-side big men trying to go up.

“So, it just started clicking and it was just, keep going,” King added. “Everybody was like, ‘King, we’re going to bring them to you,’ which started happening my whole career.”

King’s memory after 16 years is nearly spot-on. He did indeed block three consecutive shots in a matter of 12 seconds, but maybe more impressively, the attempts came from three different players.

The big man recorded his eighth block with 5:52 left in the first half, tying the then-Miami single-game record. He recorded his ninth—a number still no other Hurricane has reached—to set the new mark with 15:40 remaining.

To then-junior Robert Hite, a guard who scored a career-high 38 points against Florida Atlantic that night, King’s talents around the rim allowed him to change the way he played defensively.

“We knew he was a pretty good shot-blocker—just always had good timing, long arms. That game, he was locked in, I vaguely remember,” Hite said. “So, once you got a big man that you know is locked in defensively and is down there protecting the rim, you can kind of gamble a little more and open up a little more. You know you’ve got somebody back there that’s either going to block the shot or change the shot to where they miss it and you can get the rebound and go.”

As great as King performed defensively, he still, obviously, had to reach 10 points for a triple-double. To that point—the fourth game of his sophomore season—he had never done so as a Hurricane, however.

In fact, only once in King’s prior 25 outings did he eclipse five and that came in that year’s season opener, an eight-point showing against Wofford.

“He still was coming into his own offensively, his footwork and confidence, really,” Hite recalled. “Just went out there taking his shots [and taking] his chances when he got opportunities on the low block or wherever that was. [He was] getting comfortable being in those positions, being ready to score, being ready to shoot the ball because he came in just more so as a defender and a shot-blocker.”

That particular night, though, King did just enough to set a then-career-high with 11 points. He finished 5-of-8 from the floor and 1-of-2 at the free-throw line in his 30 minutes of action.

“Guillermo [Diaz] and Rob had so much attention on them, so I got a couple drop-offs then and [it was about] just finishing at that point. Between [William] Frisby and [Gary] Hamilton, I was pretty much second in line offensively [among big men]. Yeah, I didn’t show it until that day—I was starting to come into my own offensively,” King said, echoing Hite’s sentiment. “After that, you get of couple easy ones; now you’re more confident with your offensive game. Then, that got going.”

Just nine days after a 19-rebound performance versus Wofford—then the top total by a Hurricane since the program’s rebirth in 1985-86—it was actually on the glass where King had to close out his triple-double.

Florida Atlantic junior guard Quinton Young took a 3-pointer with 1:13 left in the game and two seconds later, after junior guard Eric Wilkins blocked it, the ball fell to King, who grabbed it to secure his place in history with 71 seconds left.

“After the triple-double, I’m kind of like, ‘Man, take me out. I’m good. Just take me out of the game. I’m ready to go home,’” King said with a laugh.

While the triple-double is not King’s favorite college memory—that distinction goes to a 2006 victory at the Dean E. Smith Center, Miami’s first road win over North Carolina—that evening still does hold a special place in his heart and he is awed at how well it has stood the test of time.

“I’ve always been one not to think about, ‘This is what I did—me, me, me, me.’ It was [more like], ‘It happened. Good. Let’s move on,’” King shared. “It was a good game; I can’t believe I’ve done it. I can’t believe it’s been 16 years, so that is pretty amazing.”

King’s dazzling performance that night helped spark one of the finest defensive seasons in program history. He finished second in the ACC and top-10 nationally in blocked shots with 2.97 per game, as well as placed fifth in the league in rebounding with 8.0 per contest.

Additionally, King registered 86 total blocks on the year, setting a Miami single-season record that still stands to this day, and made the ACC All-Defensive Team.

Since King—a professional basketball player abroad since 2008—recorded his triple-double in November 2004, just one other Hurricane has done so. Guard Bruce Brown Jr., logged one as a freshman in December 2016 and another a sophomore in November 2017.

“When I saw Bruce do it, some of my friends and fellow classmates that were there, they were like, ‘Oh, King, you’re not the only one,”’ King said. “So, you jostle between your friends and I’d respond back with, ‘Yeah, but I got mine the hard way.’

“But as far as that, records are meant to be broken,” King added. “I don’t really think about it—it happened. Keep breaking the records; that just brings more popularity to UM.”

To this day, Brown is one of only six players in ACC history with multiple triple-doubles.

King did not join that select group and he never took Cohen up on the offer to repeat his pregame donut-eating in an effort to do so.

“No, no,” King chuckled. “It’s too heavy.”

That one time was more than enough to forever cement his place in Hurricane lore.