City College’s Destinee King of the Lady Vaqueros basketball team won Santa Barbara Athlete of the Week for the week of Jan. 9 through 15.
King has been an extremely consistent force for the Lady Vaqueros, who currently sit at 14-9 and are looking to finish the regular season strong. Earning athlete of the week is a tremendous testament to her efforts.
“Destinee King is an exceptional student athlete. What makes her so exceptional is her growth mindset,” said coach Sandrine Krul. “Destinee is a woman of strong character and integrity. She has always shown respect for authority while at the same time demonstrating the ability to make accurate, informed, and responsible decisions when necessary.”
King grew up in Antelope, California. a town about 15 miles North-East of Sacramento, where she has a very proud and supportive family.
“I miss my home more than anything, especially my bed,” said King. “ Most of my family is in sacramento so I miss them too.”
King really looks up to her grandfather and idolizes him.
“My grandpa is the most caring and hard-working person. He always does what he can to help other people and he’s always motivated me to be the best I can be at whatever I choose to do.”
The competitiveness and toughness of King has earned her fourteen double-doubles in twenty three games this season. A double-double is getting more than 10 in two different categories. King has 30 double-doubles in 50 career games.
“Destinee’s strongest quality on the court is leading by example,” said teammate Diamond Alexander. “She sets the tone in our drills and during the games.”
King is fourth in points per game, second in rebounds per game and second in blocks per game. She is the reigning MVP of the Western State Conference, which consists of seventeen teams, and is again in the running this season. Last season, she was also named to the first All-State team.
Despite her accolades, King always wants to improve and makes no time for arrogance. She has garnered much respect from her coaches and teammates.
“She is very humble and empowering. She has had, and will continue to have such amazing success as a student athlete.” said teammate Jada Clark. “She doesn’t go around with her chest all puffed up thinking she’s a superstar.”
With the playoffs approaching, King and the Vaqueros are looking to finish the regular season strong. The Vaqueros had recently lost three in a row until a 30-point win over L.A. Pierce led to a 9-point win over Cuesta college.
“We need to trust each other. We need to play together. If we do that then we will win more games,” said King. “We needed that win. The win gives us more confidence. We played more as a team. We still had our moments of adversity in the game, but we were able to stay ahead the whole time.”
King is a sophomore and plans on transferring at the end of the semester. King is not sure where she will transfer, but she will be missed by coaches and teammates next year.
“An athlete like Destinee can’t be forgotten.” said Clark. “It’s going to be hard to lose such a leader in practice and in the games, but we have so many amazing teammates that step up and that work hard day in and day out.”
“It’s very rare these days, where your most talented athlete is willing to be coached and taught without ego,” said Krul. “She never blames her teammates or the coaches for a loss and she is always the first to take responsibility if we don’t perform well. A rare breed indeed.”
Correction: Feb. 9, 2017
A previous version of this article mistakenly stated that Destinee King won athlete of the week two weeks in a row. King won athlete of the week only for the week of Jan. 9 through Jan. 15.
