Aug. 25, 2009

A native of Trinity, N.C., Josh King enters his first year on the UMass Lowell coaching staff, following an impressive playing career at Eckerd College, East Carolina University and at Trinity High School in North Carolina.

After graduating from Eckerd in 2008 with a B.A. in business, King spent last season as the assistant men's basketball coach at Vassar College.

King works with the HoopGroup Elite basketball camps and has worked camps at the University of Florida, North Carolina State, Virginia Commonwealth, Eckerd College and High Point University.

"Josh will be a great addition to our program," head coach Greg Herenda said. "He was an overachiever as a player and he will do the same as a coach."

He played two years at East Carolina under current River Hawk head coach Herenda, playing in all but one contest as a rookie, including impressive showings against Pepperdine (11 points, four rebounds) and NC State (a trio of three-point field goals). He drained at least one three-point field goal in 13 of 27 games and multiple threes in eight contests.

After his sophomore year, he transferred to Eckerd College, where he finished out his collegiate eligibility. He was the co-captain of the Tritons during his senior campaign, starting all 28 games. His team made the NCAA DII Tournament in 2006-08, reaching the Sweet 16 during the 2006-07 season.

King played at Trinity High School and finished his career as the third all-time leading scorer in North Carolina high school basketball history (2,577 points). He was named AP Player of the Year as a senior, North Carolina's "Mr. Basketball" and NCHSAA 3A Player of the Year after averaging 27.1 points per game and leading his team to the 3A State Championship in 2004. For his efforts in that state tournament, he was named Tournament MVP and was a four-time All-County and All-State selection. King was named conference Player of the Year from 2002-04.

He broke the North Carolina record for career three-pointers (416, shattering the previous record of 275), single season three-pointers (164) and most three-pointers made in a game (12).

"I am very excited and thankful for the opportunity to join Coach Herenda and his staff at UMass Lowell," King said. "Coach Herenda recruited me out of high school and I was able to learn from him as a player, now I am looking forward to learning under him as a coach. His excitement, enthusiasm and knowledge of the game is second to none and I can't think of a better person to work for than Coach G."

"I am very happy to bring him onto our staff," Herenda said. "I recruited him years ago and it is special to now work with him here at UMass Lowell. He will bring great energy to our staff and our entire program."