Andrew King is ready to start his Army football career this upcoming season and many observers have felt all along that his versatility will help him effectively transition from high school to college.

At Sunday's 3rd Annual Empower Federal Credit Union All Football Classic played at the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University, King confirmed his status as a quality Division I prospect by taking MVP honors amongst other quality opponents and teammates, like a trio of Syracuse commits is Devante McFaralane, Omari Palmer and Wayne Morgan.

The irony is that the product of Queens (NY) Flushing High School shinned amongst the stars while playing the Sam linebacker spot ... somewhat different from role he has been projected to play at Army, which is fullback.

Of course if you know anything about Head Coach Rich Ellerson's philosophy, it's about getting the best players on the field at the same time, that often has resulted in a prospect like King being projected at one position, however ending up elsewhere.

And it was that 'elsewhere' on Sunday where King's presence was felt by the Upstate All-Stars, as soon to be Black Knight registered 14 tackles, 1 pass deflection, while taking one of his two blocked punts in for a defensive touchdown (10 yards), as the Downstate All-Star pulled out a 27-23 win.

Surprisingly, King pointed to another play during the course of the game where he was a spectator versus a participate that got his motor revved up.

"The highlight for the game for me was when one of our teammates had made a block, but it was surprising to see this 5'6" take out this big linebacker ... that got us all pumped up," says King, who put being named Most Valuable Player into perspective.

"Being named game MVP - It felt good, but I was just doing my job ... one eleventh of the job," he declared. "It really doesn't matter what college you go to but just playing with and against the best players, you try to do your best."

However, King could not deny that playing with future teammates, LB,Kyle Ricciardi and CB, Steven Johnson had it's own special moments. "We were on the field together throughout the course of the game," adds King. "It was an every fourth play rotation, but for me I was out there the whole game because one of the outside backers got hurt."

"It felt good ... there was chemistry on the field between us and I didn't have to worry about Kyle or Steven not doing their assignment, where I could just play the game. We talked about it a bit after the game in that it's a preview of what's to come and just keep the ball rolling."


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