The first time freshman Tevin King heard of South Dakota State University was after a prep school coach had informed him that SDSU was interested in recruiting him.

After some research he decided to go to Brookings and at the time play basketball for coach Nagy's Jackrabbits. However, Brookings is not the type of city that King grew up in or learned to play the game in.

“At times it was kind of tough because of the violence and the adversity factors,” King said. “You gain more of a mature feel and more experience at a young age in Chicago, which I thought was good for me.”

King played basketball for Providence St – Mel High School located in East Garfield Park, which had a murder rate of 48.5 per 100,000 people between the years 2007 to 2012 according to NBC Chicago.

“People were grimy and they got into you, which made you tougher on and off the court,” said King. “At a young age you couldn’t even step on the court if you weren’t ready to catch an elbow at the park.”

After four years of basketball at Providence St – Mel, King went to play a year of basketball at St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy. An all-male college preparatory and leadership development school located in Delafield, Wisconsin.

“It was a great and humbling experience for me,” King said. “We did similar things as the military core and there were a lot of sweat and tears that went into it.”

After a year at St. John's, King decided on SDSU and was a solid backup guard for seniors George Marshall, Deondre Parks and Jake Bittle. Next season King is likely to start at point guard for the Jackrabbits.

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