After matriculating at the great academic institutions of Duke and Villanova, he chose Southern Cal because, according to King, “The education is off the charts at SC.” He will enroll in their renowned Film School.

King played in 32 of Villanova’s games in the 2009-10 season. He averaged 7.4 pts per game and 5.3 rebounds.

Good Luck Taylor…

According to Villanova.com, Taylor plans to remain at Villanova as a student. He will complete his degree requirements, but will not remain a part of the intercollegiate basketball program. He had two years of eligibility left after transferring from Duke, he would be going into his fourth years of college, and should be relatively close to completing his degree.

According to O’Neil’s source and some of the earlier rumors this morning, King’s withdrawal was the result of some violation of team rules.

King was one of a couple of McDonald’s All-Americans on the Main Line recently. He averaged 7.5 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Wildcats, while shooting 36.4% from beyond the arc.

This likely means more playing time for Isaiah Armwood as well as the talented freshman duo of JayVaughn Pinkston and James Bell next year. By the end of the 2009-2010 season, however, King saw very limited minutes — he did not take the court against West Virginia at the end of the season, and only saw single-digit minutes against Marquette in the Big East tournament and St. Mary’s in the NCAA tournament.

Update (6/22): Since dsproul03 asked for information on how the scholarship situation works, I’ll reposts some information I looked up a few months ago when Jason Colenda left the program:

If a scholarship player voluntarily leaves the program, his scholarship becomes available to any other eligible non-scholarship player …

A voluntary withdrawal makes the scholarship available again at the beginning of the next academic term. It is the reason why Kentucky is able to heavily recruit after five underclassmen went pro — their withdrawal was voluntary and their scholarships became open. If a player withdraws in November, however, you cannot use their scholarship again until after exams end in December.

If you would like to read the actual rule, here it is:

15.5.2.2 VoluntaryWithdrawal. An institution may replace a counter who voluntarily withdraws from the team in a head-count sport by providing the financial aid to another student who already has enrolled in the institution and is a member of the team. For this replacement to occur, the counter must withdraw prior to the first day of classes or before the first game of the season, whichever is earlier, and release the institution from its obligation to provide financial aid. The institution may not award the financial aid to another student-athlete in the academic term in which the aid was reduced or canceled. Further, if the financial aid is canceled before a regular academic term (e.g., preseason practice period), the aid may not be provided to another student-athlete during the ensuing academic term.

See Also:

• Ballin’ is a Habit’s take on the matter
• Coverage from Chris Lane at The Nova Blog (and one from jhulax22)
• Jon Tannenwald knows about as much as we do at Philly.com
• Joe Juliano covered this for the Philly Inquirer, while Dick Jerardi has the Daily News’ take.

Video by Sean Donovan

We all all have our opinions about Taylor King’s season. He came to Villanova amid high-expectations for his ability to shoot the ball, but may have made more of an impact on the boards this year. King was the ‘Cats’ second-leading rebounder, but scored just 0.1 more points per game more than Reggie Redding — good for 5th place on the team.

He was a pretty efficient shooter this year at 42.1%, but he saw less than 20 minutes per game. He had games where he could score double-digits and lead the team and some where he could do the dirty work on the boards (Ole Miss, Delaware and Syracuse come to mind). As the season wore on, however, King seemed to become less productive, perhaps as a function of the team’s slide in general in February.

By the end of the season, Taylor King had been benched against West Virginia and went from a high of 33 minutes against Temple, to lows of 2 minutes in the Big East tournament, and just 9 minutes against St. Mary’s.

Our favorite video editor, Sean Donovan, took a look on the bright-side, however, to provide a video-recap of Taylor King’s 2009-2010 highlights. Hopefully next year, Taylor will return to form and overwhelm Sean with clips for his reel.

See also: Fact on Villanova Sports’ season wrap-up for Taylor King.

This is following up on the heel’s of the AP Story that King is out indefinitely.

VILLANOVA, Pa. — The 10th-ranked Villanova Wildcats could play the Big East tournament without forward Taylor King because of an undisclosed personal issue.

King was benched by coach Jay Wright for Saturday’s loss against West Virginia. Wright said at Monday’s practice there’s a “teaching point” he’s trying to make with King.

King is Villanova’s second-leading rebounder. Wright said he’ll decide in the next day or two what to do with King, who will travel to the tournament.

Wright said King is not in any trouble and did not break a team rule.

King said he’s going through “personal stuff right now.” He declined to reveal what is wrong, but said he will not be a distraction for the Wildcats.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

Taylor King 2007-2008 Stats (Duke University)

Jay Wright: “King has played big-time games with Duke, so he’s been there. He’s gotta step up and be a more consistent upperclassmen.”

Villanova.com: Sat out the 2008-09 campaign after transferring from Duke. A prolific scorer … Blessed with a soft touch and deep range. 2007-08: Averaged 5.5 ppg for the Blue Devils while appearing in 34 games … Matched a Duke freshman record with six 3-point field goals en route to 27 points in a Nov. 25 victory over Eastern Kentucky … The 27 points were second most in the ACC in 2007-08 scored by a reserve … Made his collegiate debut with a team high 20 points against N.C. Central on Nov. 9 … Became just the fourth player in Duke history to score 20 or more points in his debut … Connected on 7-of-12 field goal attempts for a game-high 18 points against Michigan on Dec. 8 … Fared well in his only Philadelphia appearance, scoring 15 points in 12 minutes at the Wachovia Center against Temple on Jan. 9, 2008 … By doing so he became the first player in Duke history to lead the team in scoring despite playing the fewest minutes in a game … Recorded six double-digit scoring games. SANTA ANA MATER DEI H.S. His 3,214 points are fourth most in California Prep history … Also grabbed 1,224 rebounds … Named California’s “Mr. Basketball”, second team Parade All-American and McDonald’s All-American in 2007 … Averaged 26.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game as a senior.

Blue Devel Nation Supplement: As a sixth-grader King already was playing in pickup games with UCLA players.. “Coach Howland said he wanted to make Taylor the youngest recruit ever to UCLA,” said Steve King. By the end of his sophomore year, Taylor King called Howland and told him he’d like to reopen the recruiting process and committed to Duke in his junior year.

Final Voting Results

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Rising sophomore Taylor King, transferred after his freshman year at Duke following the NCAA Tournament in March 2008. The transfer became official a few weeks later.

King comes to the Main Line from California powerhouse Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana.

He burst onto the scene in the Summer of 2003 when he verbally committed to UCLA before playing a single minute of high school basketball. He reopened his recruiting in the spring of 2005 and signed with Duke in January 2006 after considering Villanova and Gonzaga.

At Mater Dei, King He was named Mr. Basketball in the state after finishing a high school career 3,214 points and grabbing 1,224 rebounds. The 6’6″ small forward was a 2007 Mc Donald’s All American and 2nd Team Parade All American.

In 2006 he was on the US U18 National Team and averaged 12 points in the ’06 FIBA Americas U18 Championship.

In his single season in Durham, Taylor played in all 34 games for the Blue Devils. He averaged 5.5 points a game along with 2 rebounds in under 10 minutes a game. He scored 15 or more points in 6 games and had a 37.7% range from behind the arc for the season.

The lefty is lethal from distance, and possesses 3-Point range that extends past the NBA’s line. Teaming up with Corey Stokes this year should cast fear in many opponents’ eyes as their defenders need to guard up to 23 feet away from the basket.

The scouting knocks against King are that he is not athletic and not a good defender. Being able to practice with the rest of the ‘Nova squad during the 2008-09 Season should help Taylor out immensely. During the Wildcats’ Final Four run he has a full season to condition his physique as well as learn jay Wright’s defensive scheme(s).

Having that year of experience on the Main Line can’t be overlooked as Taylor will be able to contribute off the bench at the 3 or 4 positions when needed in the Villanova System.

Taylor is the lone member of Villanova’s Class of 2012.

[youtube DA9vaJMG-Gk]

In new news… it notes that Taylor King will wear #31 (he wore #20 at Duke, but Shane Clark sports that number for the Wildcats). This is also the first opportunity Villanova fans can see King and freshman Maurice Sutton in a ‘Nova uniform.

By Position
Centers: Cassiem Drummond, Maurice Sutton
Forwards: Frank Tchuisi, Dante Cunningham, Shane Clark, Antonio Peña, Taylor King
Guards: Dwayne Anderson, Scottie Reynolds, Reggie Redding, Corey Stokes, Corey Fisher

2009 Commitments:
Maalik Wayns (PG)

Two new articles have popped out from Campus today.

• Taylor King Transfers to Villanova
• Nova Notebook: King Acclimates Himself to New Home at Villanova