April 23, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Fresh off the program's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championship, Cleveland State bolstered an already strong recruiting class with the addition of Honesty King (Lorain, Ohio/Elyria) for the 2008-09 season.

Head coach Kate Peterson Abiad made the announcement on Wednesday.

"Landing a player of Honesty's caliber from the area is a great step for our program," Peterson Abiad said.

"Honesty is a heady guard who is offensive minded and comes from a winning program. She pushes the pace offensively and is the complete package because she can score, but also has the ability to create scoring opportunities for others."

King will join early signees Janelle Adams (5-9, G, Milwaukee, Wis.), Destinee Blue (6-3, C, Milwaukee, Wis.) and Kaila Montgomery (6-1, G/F, Ontario, Canada) on next season's roster.

King, a 5-foot-7 guard, was named Lorain County Miss Basketball and garnered Lorain-Medina Player of the Year honors from The Plain Dealer after leading the Pioneers to a 16-7 record and an appearance in the Division I district championship game this past season.

She averaged 19.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.0 steals per game, while leading the Pioneers with 35 three-pointers. In an early season victory over Admiral King, she tied her own school-record with 34 points.

The 34-point outburst came one night after King scored 25 points in a win over Vermillion in the Lorain County Holiday Classic. Her 59 points in the two contests earned King a spot on the all-tournament team.

A three-year letterwinner for the Pioneers, King finished her career with 957 points, averaging 13.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.2 steals in 70 career games.

"We have a lot of diversity in this class," Peterson Abiad said. "We have added much needed height, as well as quickness, scoring and rebounding. As a whole, I think this is the most versatile class that we have signed.

"These players will help us at every position on the floor and when you combine them with the group that we have coming back, they will give us a much deeper lineup to be able to work with."

The Vikings return three starters and eight letterwinners from last year's squad that went 19-14 and won the Horizon League Championship to earn the program's first-ever bid to the NCAA Championship.