[Buckskin86]

Pitt paper article

JUSTIN KING

SCHOOL: Gateway.

WHO IS HE? A 6-foot, 180-pound junior, King is a football star who also is excelling in track.

LAST WEEK: King won the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the Tri-State Coaches Association Championships at West Mifflin last Saturday and also anchored Gateway's 400 relay team that finished first. King ran the 100 in 11.03 seconds and the 200 in 22.52.

CAREER: King also was one of the top sprinters in the WPIAL last year, but he didn't run in the WPIAL 100 final because he false-started, which disqualified him.

BEST EVENT: Although King has done well in the 100 and 200, he's not sure which event is his best.

"I think it's the 100, but most people think I'm better in the 200," King said. "I don't like running the 200, though."

THE REASON HE RUNS: King does not try to hide his feelings for running track. "I just do it to keep in shape for football," he said. "I really don't like it that much."

His least favorite part of track is practice.

"You just run in practice," he said. "You're not running from anybody."

DOZENS OF OFFERS: King is a running back-defensive back in football. Although he is only a junior, he already has scholarship offers for football from colleges across the country.

"It's more than 25," said Gateway football coach/athletic director Terry Smith, who also is King's stepfather.

Most schools want him as a cornerback, but a few like him as a running back. Besides offers from Pitt and Penn State, King also been offered scholarships by big-time programs such as Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida and Florida State.

"Basically, whoever we sent a tape to, wrote back with a scholarship offer," Smith said. "We sent a tape to [USC coach] Pete Carroll. He called at 8 o' clock the next morning, talked to me and then offered."

Many had King pegged as a future Penn State recruit because he has said in the past that he likes the Nittany Lions. And also because Smith played receiver at Penn State.

But, when asked if he had a favorite, King didn't hesitate to say, "My leader right now is Michigan. Just because Michigan has been recruiting me the hardest, along with Penn State. Plus, I'm real comfortable with the coaches there -- and it's Michigan."

SPRINTERS' SHOWDOWN: King will run in the Butler Invitational April 16 against North Hills star sprinter Andrew Johnson. A senior, Johnson is a University of Miami football recruit and the defending WPIAL and PIAA 100-meter champ.

"If I hit on all cylinders, I have a chance against him," King said.