Reggie King was supposed to be a basketball player. With a father like Billy King, former Philadelphia 76ers general manager and Duke basketball standout, the expectation practically wrote itself.
But Reggie had other ideas.
The Episcopal Academy center fielder has quietly emerged as one of the area’s top baseball prospects, and his story is as compelling as his stat line, reports Joseph Santoliquito for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Credit goes partly to his mother, Melanie, a former softball player at La Salle, who helped spark Reggie’s love for the diamond early on.
Now a two-time All-Inter-Academic League selection and three-year starter, King helped lead the Churchmen to a record-setting 20-win season, no small feat in one of the nation’s most competitive high school baseball leagues.
At 6-foot-3, King has the tools to match the pedigree. After a tough sophomore campaign, he came back as a junior, hitting .383 with a .988 OPS and airtight defense. This season he delivered again with 20 hits, 14 RBIs, 16 runs scored, and 14 stolen bases.
“I think the big thing my dad instilled was always remember that I am a part of a team and do whatever it takes to win,” said King. “My mom always wanted me to be aggressive, because I would take a lot of pitches growing up.”
What makes King’s development even more remarkable is that he’s done it while splitting time between two sports. Episcopal coach Tom Grandieri sees that as a sign of things to come rather than a limitation.
“You can kind of say he is cursed by being such a good athlete,” said Grandieri. “He starts for the baseball and basketball teams in a highly competitive league. He was always running from one sport to the other, without concentrating fully on one sport. Wait until he gets bigger and stronger.”
This fall, King heads to The Hill School, where he’ll continue playing both sports as he prepares for the next chapter of what is shaping up to be a very interesting athletic career.
Read the full story of Reggie King’s journey in The Philadelphia Inquirer to learn more about his family’s athletic legacy and what’s next for one of the area’s most promising young athletes.
_______
