When the season ended in February, Pleasure King wasn’t sure if her basketball career was over or not. She had yet to receive any college offers and wasn’t sure what was in store for her future.

King was the Missy Gators’ second-leading this season, averaging 8.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. She was also a key player on defense, notching one steal per game and functioning as one of the team’s best defenders.

The school that finally saw something in her talent and recognized her as a potential contributor was East Mississippi Community College, and King signed with them last week.

“It’s very accomplishing, because I thought wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere,” King said. “So just to be able to sign somewhere is a very accomplishing thing to do.”

Getting a spot at the junior college level gives King a chance to continue her career at a four-year college after one or two seasons. She said going to a junior college first will help her adjust to a faster pace and higher level of competition.

“I wanted to go JUCO first, to know what it’s like to step out and go D-I, so it was a great decision to make,” King said.

East Mississippi went 11-10 least season and was 6-6 in the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges. The Lions were significantly better at home, going 7-4 compared to 4-6 in away games. They averaged 65 points per game on 40 percent shooting, so King’s scoring acumen could definitely give them a boost.

King felt that East Mississippi had a very capable program, and saw the benefits of joining it in more than just on the basketball court.

“I know they’re a great basketball team, more than anything,” King said. “And they have a good program for what I want to major in with engineering and technology.”

King was excited to get to work with her new team, and said she wanted to work on extending her shooting range.

The best part of signing with East Mississippi for King was the personal accomplishment of making it to the next level in her basketball career.

“I was very proud of myself, more than anything,” King said.