Tre King set to shine in his first and last full season on the court with Iowa State men’s basketball

AMES — It started with a steal. Then, a three-point play.

Tre King’s long-delayed inroads into the “minutes played” column at Iowa State last season had become a reality exactly one week before Christmas — and the two-time transfer made the most of it, scoring 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting.

“It was so many emotions,” said King, who looks to adopt an expanded role for the Cyclones men’s basketball team this season. “You know, the counting down. You get so antsy and excited, but also you have those nerves because you haven’t played and you’re like, ‘Oh, am I gonna be rusty? What if this happens, or that happens?’

“The biggest thing I did was just slow down.”

Now the 6-foot-7 senior from one of college basketball’s blue-blooded hot beds — Lexington, Ky. — is poised to make noise from the opening tip on Nov. 6. And that’s both an exciting and inspiring prospect for the well-traveled and versatile big man.

“(Defense) is one thing I’ve hung my hat on here,” King said. “Being a defensive guy and being a guy that can finish around the rim, and getting those points in the paint. I don’t want to get away from that. I want my perimeter game to be the cherry on top.”

That aspect of King’s well-rounded game didn’t materialize last season as he shot just 26.7 percent from beyond the arc. He shot 34 percent from 3-point range two seasons earlier at Eastern Kentucky, though, so he’s proven himself capable of knocking down perimeter shots on a regular basis.

If King can return to form in that regard this season, he’ll likely start and become a focal point of a revamped Cyclones offense bolstered by the addition of three slick-shooting transfer guards — Keshon Gilbert (UNLV), Curtis Jones (Buffalo) and Jackson Paveletzke (Wofford).

Sprinkle in top-10 recruit Omaha Biliew, who’s currently playing for Team USA in the FIBA Under-19 World Cup, as well as top-30 recruit Milan Momcilovic, and ISU’s once again new-look team appears well positioned to make a strong run at a third straight NCAA tournament berth.

“We have a lot of guys who can score the ball,” King said. “A lot of guys who can play make and create off the dribble. I love their work ethic. I love that they’re low-ego, high-character guys that just love getting in here and working every day.”

Attracting players with that set of attributes is precisely how Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger has rebuilt the program behind gritty early-morning practices and an unwavering commitment to establishing and maintaining critical core habits.

King serves as an exemplar in that respect — and he’s done it since joining the program knowing actually playing in games wouldn’t materialize for a year and a half. Now that he’s put in that largely behind-the-scenes work, it’s time to put it on full public display.

“(King) needs to be a guy that’s aggressive to score the basketball,” Otzelberger said. “We want him catching the ball in the paint. We want him attacking downhill. We want him all over the offensive glass. His greatness, to me, is his compete spirit, his physical play, his ability to score the ball in those manners.”

And also his leadership potential. Only fellow big man Robert Jones has been with the ISU program longer than King and both have become strong mentors to incoming freshmen and older transfers.

“(They) know what we value,” Otzelberger said. “They know how it goes and (they) know what’s going to get you on the floor, and (they) know what’s going to create more opportunities.

“Tre’s in a very advantageous position to do those things. He knows those things so we’re going to continue to challenge him going forward.”

Bring it on, King said. He’s finally poised to impact a full season for the first time in three years — and for the first and last time as a Cyclone.

“I’m preparing to make a deep run that we (as a team) feel like we’re gonna make as well,” King said.

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