Valerie King, the career record holder for three-pointers in University of Cincinnati (UC) and Conference USA (C-USA) history, enters her sixth season as an assistant coach with the Wright State women's basketball program. King came to WSU after serving on head coach Mike Bradbury's staff during his three-year tenure at Morehead State.
Teaming with Bradbury, the Raiders reached new heights in 2010-11 as WSU played in its first division I post-season tournament with two games in the Women's Basketball Invitational and secured the program's first 20-win in division I.
Her expertise in outside shooting helped mold Morehead State into one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams. In 2009-10, the Eagles were the NCAA Division I leader in three-pointers made at 10.3 per game and junior guard Chynna Bozeman was the individual national leader with 3.7 made per contest. During the 2008-09 campaign, MSU led all NCAA and NAIA teams in three-pointers attempted.
King was a four-year starter for the Bearcats from 2000-01 through 2003-04 and ended her career as the all-time leader with 338 three-pointers - which is also the C-USA record. King is also the all-time career leader in games played (126), three-pointers attempted (847), three-point percentage (.399) and free throw percentage (.866).
King scored 2,156 career points to rank second all-time at Cincinnati and was just 201 points shy of the career record. She is just one of three Bearcats to score 2,000 or more points in a career (Oscar Robertson, Cheryl Cook). A Conference USA All-Decade selection, her point total ranks fourth among all C-USA players in league history.
King also holds the top three spots on UC's season chart for three-pointers and has four of the top 10, including a season and C-USA best 101 treys in 2001-02. She also is listed three times each among Cincinnati's season leaders in free throw percentage and three-point percentage and holds the school, conference and Fifth Third Arena record with 46 points in a game against Charleston Southern in 2003.
Among her many accolades, King was named First-Team All-Conference in 2001-02 and 2002-03 and Second-Team All-Conference in 2003-04. She was also awarded the C-USA Tournament MVP in 2001, was a five-time Player of the Week honoree during her career and was named Honorable Mention All-America by Basketball Times in 2002. She was signed as a free agent by the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA after her collegiate career and spent a short time playing professionally.
The Bearcats appeared in the postseason in each of King's four seasons, including NCAA tournaments appearances in 2002 and 2003. On October 27, 2010, King was inducted into the school's Athletics Hall of Fame.
A native of Washington Court House, Ohio, King graduated with a degree in communication from Cincinnati in 2004 and earned a master's degree in sports administration from the University of Louisville.
