Blue White Illustrated

I t's hard enough going through the process of being a Division I football re- cruit nowadays, but when both you and your twin brother have the potential to play at that level, it can complicate things even more. A great example: Kalen and Kobe King of Detroit. In April 2019, Kalen earned an o6er from the Nittany Lions, and just two weeks later he and his family traveled to State College to see the campus for the 5rst time, attending the annual Blue- White Game. Almost immediately, Penn State became one of Kalen's top destina- tions, but there was a problem: Kobe had yet to earn a scholarship o6er from the Nittany Lions. Going through the recruiting process, it wasn't an absolute must, but the brothers and their parents did prefer that they play together in college. And by this stage in their recruitment, they had plenty of overlapping o6ers. They weren't small, non-Power Five schools, either, but rather programs like Indiana, Iowa State, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska and West Virginia. However, those weren't the schools that Kalen was feeling at the time. "I always felt like it was just a matter of time until Penn State o6ered Kobe," Kalen said. "But I do remember thinking at the time, 'Man, what if they don't?' I didn't know at the time that Penn State was def- initely going to be my school, but I de5- nitely knew they were going to be in the mix until the end, so I was hoping that Coach Franklin and everyone came through." Kalen had to wait just a little over two months to get his answer, as Penn State o6ered Kobe in June. But even before that o6er, both Kobe and Kalen became com- fortable with Tim Banks, who oversees recruiting in Detroit. Both of their prospective position coaches, Brent Pry and Terry Smith, also tag-teamed their recruitment. In the end, their comfort level with all three, plus James Franklin, played a major role in their decision. But before the King brothers could begin truly narrowing down their list of schools, there were still more o6ers to come. Michigan State's o6er came around the same time as Penn State's, but it was the one from Wisconsin in September that gave Kobe something to genuinely think about. "I think at one point, Kobe may have been leaning toward Wisconsin more and I was leaning toward Penn State," Kalen said. "But a7er we took that second visit to Penn State, we were both on the same page. Penn State was the team to beat then." King said that the second trip, which took place on Jan. 18, 2020, wasn't about seeing things they hadn't seen before. It was mostly aimed at con5rming that the impression he had gotten back in April was correct. "We saw some new things and did get to hang out with the coaches more this time, but it was really about getting that same feeling I did the 5rst time," he said. "It felt right right away, and I think Kobe got a similar feeling. I remember a7er that visit, Penn State was in a good spot, but we still weren't quite there yet. We had a few things to 5gure out still." Both brothers took another visit the very next day, stopping in Ann Arbor to meet with Jim Harbaugh and his sta6 at Michigan. Wisconsin then hosted them for what proved to be their 5nal visit on Feb. 1. There was a regularly scheduled dead period that extended through Feb- ruary, and the NCAA chose to shut down all in-person recruiting in the second week of March. By that point, it was clear to the King family that they weren't going to be taking any additional visits in the near future. Ultimately, the decision came down to Penn State and Wisconsin, and the Lions won out, with the brothers committing publicly on April 10. Kalen and Kobe both 5nished as four-star prospects, and Kalen moved from outside the Rivals250 all the way up to No. 135 overall following an ex- cellent senior season. "I'm a hard-working dude," he said. "I'm levelheaded. I'm not getting into trouble. I come from a good house. Don't worry about me lollygagging. I've got my head on straight. I know what I'm doing." ■ Family ties were key part of King's recruitment U P C L O S E & P E R S O N A L | >> CLICK HERE to see video of King in action. KALEN KING Rivals.com

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