When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. When one door closes, another one opens. If these phrases hold true, then sophomore guard Marlon King is purposefully strutting through an open door, glass of lemonade in hand.
Graduating from Eastlake High School in San Diego in 2006, King wasn’t recruited by the bigger schools in the area. Those schools saw King’s five-foot-ten-inch stature as a disadvantage. Despite his disappointment, King knew he wanted to get an education, so he enrolled at San Diego State. He entertained thoughts of becoming a walk-on for the basketball team; that is, until Coach Dave Holmquist caught word of him.
Through contact with Marlon’s high school coach and a few others, Holmquist got in touch with King in the summer and had him try out. It seemed to be a perfect fit for both King and Holmquist. Once the application and registration processes kicked in, King was accepted and enrolled in classes just a few weeks into the semester.
“I talked to my family and prayed on it a lot, and I felt I would have a better opportunity at Biola,” King said.
King said he has not regretted his decision.
“I feel like I’ve formed better relationships since I’ve been away from San Diego,” King said.
Being away from home has helped him step outside of his comfort zone and connect with some very genuine people here at Biola.
“I thought he was good, but because of his heart, he’s turned out to be even better than I thought he would be,” said Coach Holmquist. “He is an extremely hard worker, both in and out of season.”
King’s hard work can be attributed to his athletic roots. By his own admission, he’s always been competitive. “Growing up, playing sports was the thing to do,” King said. He was a multi-sport athlete until he decided to make basketball his sole focus.
“My dad taught me to do the best I can, or don’t do it at all,” King said.
King continues to exceed expectations, totaling 74 assists on the season, the highest on the team by 20, and averaging 11.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, ranking third on the team in each. He also leads the team, which has the best scoring defense in the nation, in steals, amassing 45 thus far this season.
“I just try to do what the team needs, whether that be scoring, taking care of the ball, or playing defense,” King said.
Lately, King has been scoring. He’s boosted his already well-rounded game in the past few weeks, hitting for 22 against Fresno Pacific, 23 against San Diego Christian and 17 in the upset victory at Point Loma.
“Marlon is great to coach,” said Holmquist. “He is both a very good player and teammate and also an excellent student.”
King is a kinesiology major, but hopes to stay involved with sports.
“I love competing,” King said. “I always want to be around competition. I think my dream job would be a trainer or team doctor for a big sports team.”
King has steadily improved on his numbers throughout the course of the year and since he is only a sophomore, he has two more years of promising growth.
