Eli King puts himself in the transfer portal, leaving Iowa State

Pat Ruff, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read

Mar. 22—AMES, Iowa. — Former Caledonia boys basketball star Eli King has entered the transfer portal after spending one season at Iowa State University.

King, a 6-foot-3 freshman guard and four-star recruit out of high school, played in just nine games for the 19-14 Cyclones, averaging 3.4 minutes per game.

Iowa State was ousted last week in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

King was named the Player of the Year by the Minnesota Boys Basketball Coaches Association as a high school senior when he averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 4.2 steals per game. He led Caledonia to a third-place state finish and was a top-five finalist for the state's Mr. Basketball award.

In King's final high school game, he finished with 35 points, 14 rebounds, 8 steals and 4 assists. That came in a 16-point third-place win over Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta in the state tournament.

King, who missed his junior season with a knee injury, still finished his high school career with 1,656 points.

The high-flying guard was highly recruited before settling on Iowa State in April of 2021. King also received offers from Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Marquette and Stanford.

King's father, Brad King — who was also his Caledonia boys basketball coach — said that Wednesday was a busy day for Eli, with lots of schools showing interest in him.

"He had a bunch of teams reach out to him today, all telling him why he would be good at their school and how they would use him in their system," Brad said. "It's been a busy day."

Brad King said that Minnesota was not one of the schools to make contact with him.