University of Tennessee Athletics
Bernard King to be UT's SEC legend
March 10, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Former Tennessee basketball great Bernard King will be one of 12 former players honored as Chick-fil-A Legends at the 2008 SEC Tournament this week. King will be recognized at halftime of the Vols??? game Friday afternoon.
The Brooklyn, New York native was named first-team All-America and SEC Player of the Year in each of his three seasons on Rocky Top. He scored 1,962 career points and grabbed 1,004 rebounds, which rank seventh and second, respectively, in school history. King never averaged less than 25 points per game in a season and scored 30 points in a game a school-record 26 times.
His only three seasons on campus (1974-77) were three of the best in program history as he paired with teammate Ernie Grunfeld for the ???Ernie and Bernie Show.??? Tennessee compiled a record of 61-20 during those years, won a share of the 1977 SEC title and made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.??
King left college after the 1976-77 season to enter the NBA Draft, where he was selected seventh overall by the New Jersey Nets. He went on to play 14 seasons in the NBA with five different teams. He was twice named first team All-NBA and was the league???s leading scorer in the 1984-85 season at 32.9 points per game.
The tenth former Vol selected, King will join Reggie Johnson, A.W. Davis, Grunfeld, Tony White, Tom Boerwinkle, Dale Ellis, Ron Widby, Bill Justus and Allan Houston as SEC Basketball Legends.
The other 2008 Legends include Leon Marlaire, Alabama; Corliss Williamson, Arkansas; Wesley Person, Auburn; Dan Cross; Florida; Hugh Durham, Georgia; Kyle Macy, Kentucky; Frank Brian, LSU; Joe Harvell, Ole Miss; Wiley Peck, Mississippi State; Ronnie Collins, South Carolina and Barry Goheen, Vanderbilt.
