AKRON, Ohio -- Northeast Ohio boys basketball is losing one of its top college recruiting targets, as VJ King is leaving St. Vincent-St. Mary to enroll at Paul VI (Va.) for his junior season, according to his father, Vince.
King, who is leaving next week to train with USA basketball's U17 team, is ranked No. 18 in the Class of 2016 by ESPN.com. Villa Angela-St. Joseph rising senior Carlton Bragg is the only local player ranked higher (No. 14 for Class of 2015).
The rising junior has an impressive list of Division I offers, which includes Ohio State, Arizona, Georgetown, Michigan, Michigan State and UCLA.
In two seasons at St. Vincent-St. Mary, King's teams reached the state tournament twice but lost to Columbus Bishop Watterson each time. Last season, King missed part of the year with a sprained wrist and finished the season averaging 16.2 points per game.
Located in Fairfax, Va., Paul VI is a college preparatory school. Last season, it won the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association boys basketball title and the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament.
His former school, St. Vincent-St. Mary, will need to replace plenty of scoring next season, as the team also lost Jalen Hudson, who graduated this year and will play at Virginia Tech. King and Hudson had the highest scoring averages on the team.
King's transfer also continues a recent trend among Northeast Ohio players. Former North Royalton forward Omari Spellman (ranked No. 24 in the Class of 2016 by ESPN) transferred to MacDuffie School (Mass.) and former Medina guard Craig Randall transferred to Shadow Mountain (Ariz.).
Contact high school sports reporter David Cassilo by email (dcassilo@cleveland.com) or Twitter (@dcassilo). Or log in and leave a message in the comments section below.
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